TEN  YEARS 
IN  CUBA" 


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in  2018  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries  , 


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TEN  YEARS  IN 
EASTERN  CUBA 


An  Account  of  Baptist  Missions  Therein 
Under  the  Auspices  of  the  American 
Baptist  Home  Mission  Society 

By  Henry  L.  Morehouse,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Corresponding  Secretary 

With  a  Supplementary  Narrative 

By  Rev.  D.  A.  Wilson,  of  Cuba 


THE  AMERICAN  BAPTIST  HOME  MISSION  SOCIETY 
23  East  26th  Street  (Madison  Square)  New  York,  N.  Y. 


GROUP  OF  GIRLS  AT  EL  CRISTO  SCHOOL.  MANY  OF  THESE  ARE  CHRISTIANS 


Preface 

Eastern  Cuba  is  entering  upon  a  new  Christian 
era.  The  thick  clouds  of  superstition  and  ignor¬ 
ance  of  divine  things  are  being  dispelled. r  The 
results  of  ten  years’  devoted  missionary  work 
there  are  most  encouraging.  Much  pains  have 
been  taken  to  obtain  the  essential  facts  concern¬ 
ing  the  beginnings  and  progress  of  the  worl^  in 
every  principal  field  and  as  a  whole.  Special 
recognition  of  the  service  rendered  by  Dr.  H.  R. 
Moseley  and  Rev.  D.  A.  Wilson  in  this  respect 
is  due.  They  have  been  in  the  midst  of  the 
campaign  from  the  beginning.  There  are  few 
brighter  pages  in  the  long  history  of  the  Amer¬ 
ican  Baptist'  Home  Mission  Society  than  those 
of  the  work  under  its  auspices  in  Eastern  Cuba. 

H.  L.  M. 


Points  named  are  missions,  with  re^^ular  preaching  services.  The  larger  type  denotes  the  principal  missions  or  headquarters  in  the  different 

districts.  The  crosses  indicate  where  church  edifices  have  been  built. 


4 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


5 


Ten  Years  in  Cuba 

Chapter  I 
Our  Call  to  Cuba 


w  ITH  startling  suddenness  came  the  sum¬ 
mons  to  American  Christianity  to  give 
the  Gospel  to  the  people  of  Cuba,  Porto 
Rico  and  the  Philippine  Islands.  Short, 
sharp  and  decisive  was  the  war  waged 
in  the  interests  of  humanity  by  our 
country  against  Spain  because  of  her  bru¬ 
tal  and  bloody  measures  to  retain  control  of 
Cuba,  palpitating  with  the  spirit  of  liberty. 
In  March,  1896,  Spain  had  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  .soldiers  in  Cuba,  who  made 
but  little  headway  against  the  scattered  in¬ 
surgent  bands.  Captain-General  Weyler 
proceeded  to  starve  the  island  into  submis¬ 
sion.  and  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  forced 
the  peasants  into  towns.  These  “reconcen- 
trados,”  thus  cooped  up,  ill-fed  and  mistreat¬ 
ed,  died  in  such  numbers  as  to  shock 
the  civilized  world.  After  unavailing  efforts  by 
President  McKinley  to  induce  Spain  to  mod¬ 
ify  her  course  in  Cuba,  and  after  the  blow¬ 
ing  up  of  the  battleship  Maine  in  the  harbor 
of  Havana,  February  16,  1898,  with  the  loss 
of  264  seamen  and  two  officers,  he  sent  a 
message  to  Congress,  April  nth,  which  con¬ 
tained  these  noble  sentiments:  “In  the  name 
of  humanity,  in  the  name  of  civilization,  in 
behalf  of  endangered  American  interests 
which  give  us  the  right  and  the  duty  to 
speak  and  to  act,  the  war  in  Cuba  must 
stop.”  War  against  Spain  was  declared  ten 
days  later;  the  decisive  battle  of  San  Juan 
Ridge  was  fought  on  Sunday  morning,  July 
1st;  July  3d  the  Spanish  fleet,  rushing  forth 
from  Santiago  harbor,  was  annihilated ;  on 
the  i6th  Santiago  was  surrendered,  and  the 
next  day,  as  the  military  hands  played  “The 


Star  Spangled  Banner"  and  the  artillery 
thundered  its  salute,  our  flag  was  raised  on 
the  city  hall — and  the  war  in  Cuba  was 
over,  although  the  end  did  not  come  in 
Porto  Rico  until  August  13th,  and  in  the 
Philippines  about  the  same  time.  A  peace 
protocol  was  signed  in  Washington,  August 
i2th;  and  a  treaty  of  peace  was  signed  in 
Paris,  December  loth;  Cuba  came  under  our 
protection,  while  Porto  Rico  and  the  Philip¬ 
pines  were  transferred  to  the  United  States. 
On  January  i,  1899,  as  the  Spanish  troops 
evacuated  the  island,  Cuba  entered  upon  the 
happiest  year  in  its  history.  In  the  new  con¬ 
stitution  of  the  new  republic  religious  liberty 
was  accorded  to  all,  and  tbe  long-established 
union  of  Church  and  State  ended. 

When  it  seemed  morally  certain  that  the 
long-locked  doors  of  Romanism  were  to  be 
unbolted  in  these  islands,  officials  of  our 
Missionary  Societies  in  the  United  States  be¬ 
stirred  themselves  to  enter.  In  November, 
1898,  a  conference  between  representatives 
of  the  American  Baptist  Home  Mission  So¬ 
ciety  and  the  Home  ^Mission  Board  of  the 
Southern  Baptist  Convention  was  held  at 
Washington,  D.  C.,  when  it  was  agreed  that 
the  former  should  have  as  its  field  Porto 
Rico  and  the  two  eastern  provinces  of  Cuba, 
and  the  latter  the  four  western  provinces  of 
this  island. 

In  Havana,  for  several  years  the  Southern 
Baptist  Convention  had  maintained  a  mis¬ 
sion  which  was  begun  by  iMr.  A.  Diaz  in 
[883,  and  in  September,  1898.  one  of  the 
workers  in  that  field.  Rev.  J.  R.  OTTalloran, 
a  native  Cuban,  was  sent  to  Santiago,  where 
he  remained  about  four  months,  having  large 
congregations,  baptizing  175  persons.  The 
arrangement  for  the  division  of  territory  re- 
•sulted  in  his  relincp.iishment  of  the  work  to 
the  renresentative  of  the  Home  ^Mission  So¬ 
ciety,  February  ii,  1899. 

Casting  about  for  a  competent  man  who 
could  preach  in  Spanish,  attention  was  di¬ 
rected  to  Dr.  H.  R.  iMoseley.  of  South 
Carolina,  who  from  t888  to  1894  had  been  a 


6 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


missionary  of  tlie  Southern  Baptist  Conven¬ 
tion  in  Mexico.  The  result  of  correspond¬ 
ence  with  him  was  that  he  consented  to  go 
on  a  tour  of  exploration  for  about  two 
months,  and  make  report  thereof  to  the 
Board  in  New  York.  Accordingly  he  was 
appointed  for  this  service  in  January.  1899. 
almost  coincidentally  with  the  exodus  of  the 
Spanish  troops  and  many  Spanish  priests 
from  Cuba,  arriving  in  Santiago  in  Febru¬ 
ary.  The  throngs  wdio  attended  preaching 
services  and  the  absence  of  fanaticism  like 
that  in  ^lexico  and  many  other  Catholic 
countries  were  a  surprise  and  a  delight  to 
him.  Returning  to  New  York,  he  expressed 
his  readiness  to  devote  himself  to  work  in 
Cuba  as  soon  as  practicable.  Accordingly 
the  Board  appointed  him  as  General  IMission- 
ar_v,  to  begin  his  service  in  the  Fall 
of  1899;  and  in  the  meantime  transferred 
Rev.  James  T.  McGovern,  one  of  the  Soci¬ 
ety’s  missionaries  in  Mexico,  to  Santiago, 
who,  however,  on  account  of  sickness  and 
death  in  his  famihy  remained  but  a  few 
months.  Under  the  brief  service  of  his  suc¬ 
cessor  the  work  suffered  great  injury.  Tn 
September,  1899,  the  Board  transferred  Rev. 
Teofilo  Barocio  from  the  City  of  Mexico 
to  Santiago  and  appointed  Rev.  A.  B.  Car¬ 
lisle  of  Texas  to  the  eastern  region.  October 
19th  was  a  red-letter  day  in  the  early  his¬ 
tory  of  our  work,  for  then  Dr.  IMoseley  and 
Mr.  Barocio.  with  thei’-  families  and  Rev. 
M.  ]\I.  Callejo  and  family,  who  had  joined 
them  in  Havana,  arrived  in  Santiago,  Mr. 
Carlisle  coming  a  little  later,  ft  was  a  tedi¬ 
ous  trip  from  Havana  to  Santiago,  for 
there  was  no  through  railway'  route  and 
steamship  transportation  was  irregular  and 
inferior. 

Tn  December  a  large  building  in  the  heart 
of  the  city  was  purchased  by  the  Society  and 
remodeled  for  church  purposes,  for  a  day 
school  and  pastor’s  residence,  at  a  cost  of 
about  $12,000.  The  Corresponding  Secretary 
of  the  Society.  Gen.  Thomas  J.  Morgan, 
made  a  brief  visit  to  the  field  early  in  1900. 
On  January  12.  1000,  the  church  was  re¬ 
organized  with  a  winnowed  body  of  seventy- 
five  members,  and  from  the  date  of  the  dedi¬ 
cation  of  the  reconstructed  house  of  rvor- 
ship.  May  16,  1900,  there  was  marked  and 
substantial  progress. 

But  this  was  merely  the  beginning.  The 
problem  of  properly  occupying  several  other 


important  centers  was  a  serious  one.  Few 
men  fitted  for  such  service  were  visible  or 
available.  Providential  surprises,  however, 
were  in  store  for  us.  l^rom  quarters  unex¬ 
pected  men  and  women  who  had  acquired  the 
Spanish  language,  and  who  had  been  en¬ 
gaged  in  Christian  service  elsewhere,  were 
discovered  and  secured. 

1  he  general  policy  of  the  Society  was  first 
to  occupy  the  chief  cities  in  eastern  Cuba, 
and  having  as  many  affiliated  outstations  as 
the  missionary  and  his  assistants  at  these 
central  points  could  care  for.  Sometimes 
there  were  groups  of  five  to  seven  of  these 
stations  where  there  was  not  even  a  Roman 
Catholic  house  of  worship.  The  tables  else¬ 
where  given  indicate  how  extensively  this 
policy  has  been  adopted  and  when  work  was 
begun  at  these  places. 

After  the  occupation  of  Santiago  (pop. 
43,000).  Rev.  M.  M.  Callejo  was  sent  to 
Adanzanillo  (pop.  14,500),  October  30,  1899; 
early  in  1900,  Dr.  Moseley  visited  Ginnta- 
namo  (])op.  7,100);  and  Rev.  D.  A.  Wilson 
began  work  at  Camagiiey  (pop.  25,100, 
June  17,  1901. 

Unquestionably  Baptists  were  foremost  in 
measures  for  the  evangelization  of  eastern 
Cuba.  The  Southern  Methodists  were  also 
active.  The  Congregationalists,  Presbyte¬ 
rians  and  Episcopalians  directed  their  efforts 
mainly  to  the  western  portion  of  the  island, 
having  altogether  not  more  than  a  dozen  mis¬ 
sions  in  the  two  eastern  provinces. 
The  Friends,  or  Quakers,  have  a  few  sta¬ 
tions  in  the  region  about  Holguin.  Bap¬ 
tists  and  Methodists  have  occupied  nearly 
every  place  of  any  importance  in  eastern 
Cuba. 

In  1902  representatives  of  missionary  or¬ 
ganizations  met  at  Cienfuegos  to  consider 
questions  of  comity  in  their  work.  A  gen¬ 
eral  agreement  was  reached  to  the  effect 
that  cities  of  6,000  population  and  over  were 
open  to  all  who  chose  to  enter,  but  that  it 
was  undesirable  to  have  even  the  appearance 
of  denominational  rivalry  in  the  smaller  cit¬ 
ies  and  towns,  and  that  the  denomination 
which  first  occupied  and  maintained  stated 
services  in  an}^  of  these  places  should  have 
the  exclusive  care  thereof.  Two  other  simi¬ 
lar  conferences  on  this  and  other  matters 
have  been  held,  resulting  in  some  minor 
modifications  of  the  comity  plan  and  in  cor¬ 
dial  relations  generally  between  the  leading 


TEN  YEARS  IN  C  U  B  A 


7 


representatives  of  missionary  organizations 
there.  Dr.  Moseley  was  chairman  of  the 
last  conference.  As  Baptists  who  were  high¬ 
ly  favored  with  energetic  and  sagacious  lead¬ 
ership  in  this  work,  we  have  attained  a  posi¬ 


tion  of  preeminence  which  imposes  upon  ns 
large  responsibilities  in  its  prosecution  and 
establishment  on  a  firm  basis.  In  such  a  field 
as  this  we  do  well  if  in  the  first  decade 
good  foundations  are  laid. 


SPANISH  BLOCK  HOUSES  OR  LOOKOUT  FORTS  OF  THE  TROCHA — HALF-MILE  APART 


Chapter  II 

Difficulties  Encountered 


Every  mission  field  has  its  own  difficulties. 
1  hose  in  Cuba  have  been  peculiar.  The 
early  experiences  of  Dr.  Moseley  are  pre¬ 
sented  in  his  report  for  1900:  “One  of  the 
greatest  difficulties  w'e  have  to  encounter 
is  the  indifference  of  the  people.  They 
are  not  a  serious  people  and  are  inclined  to 
take  everything  lightly  and  carelessly.  1 
think  it  may  be  truthfully  said  that  Cuba 
has  no  religion.  Of  course,  the  Romish 
Church  is  the  established  church  of  the 
island,  but  its  devotees  are  few  in  number, 
and  w’hile  all  Cubans  are  nominal  Catholics, 
they  do  not  concern  themselves  about  Prot¬ 
estantism  or  Romanism,  righteousness  or  nn- 
righteonsness,  but  pursue  the  even  tenor  of 
.their  way  gaily,  carelessly,  many  of  them 
going  to  mass  in  the  morning,  on  some  pleas¬ 
ure  excursion  in  the  afternoon  and  to  our 
service  at  night.  iMany  of  them  are  willing 
to  unite  with  our  church  without  any  in¬ 
vestigation  whatever.  For  that  very  reason 
we  iitust  go  slowly  and  carefully,  and  while 
candidates  for  church  membership  are  nu¬ 


merous,  we  examine  each  one  privately,  and 
then  again  pnblicl}',  and  receive  only  such 
as  give  evidence  of  having  been  born  of 
God's  Spirit.  And  God  is  giving  His  Spirit 
and  souls  are  being  born  into  the  Kingdom.” 

For  a  while,  also,  there  was  difficulty  in 
determining  whether  the  multitudes  who 
thronged  onr  places  of  worship  came  from 
real  religions  interest  or  out  of  curiosity. 
There  was  the  appearance  of  interest ;  the 
people  were  remarkably  attentive  and  or¬ 
derly,  and  it  seemed  that  those  who  had 
been  fed  on  the  husks  of  religious  formalism 
were  hungry  for  the  bread  of  life.  And 
such,  indeed,  there  were.  Rut,  eventually,  it 
appeared  that  curiosity  was  the  main  motive 
that  drew  them  together  to  see  and  hear 
these  preachers — for  little  preaching  of  any 
sort  had  most  of  them  ever  heard.  The 
s'using  of  Gospel  hymns  was  a  novelty:  the 
reading  of  the  Scriptures  in  their  own  lan- 
gua,ge  and  the  entire  order  of  service  were 
something  new  under  the  sun.  When  the 
feeling  of  curiosity  had  spent  itself  there 


8 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


was  a  diminution  in  attendance.  So  the  sift¬ 
ing  process  between  the  chaff  and  the  wheat 
went  on  until  at  length  a  substantial  resi¬ 
due  that  could  be  counted  as  our  constitu¬ 
ency  remained.  Then  followed  the  slower, 
steady,  less  sensational,  discriminating  and 
more  enduring  work.  The  missionaries  had 
become  “discerners  of  spirits;”  and  the  gen¬ 
uine  converts  themselves,  through  their  own 
experiences,  had  discernment  of  the  motives 
and  professions  of  their  friends  and  asso¬ 
ciates. 

Notwithstanding  the  great  care  exercised 
in  the  reception  of  members  into  our 
churches,  some  have  proved  unworthy  and 
have  been  dropped  or  e.xcluded.  But  even 
this  works  to  our  good  in  some  respects,  in 
that  it  shows  to  the  people  that  we  require 
higher  standards  of  Christian  living  than 
prevail  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  which 
tolerates  among  its  members  what  w’ould 
not  he  tolerated  at  all  in  our  churches.  The 
sifting  process  in  the  early  stages  of  this 
work  is  inevitable  and  has  its  educational, 
as  well  as  corrective,  value  for  the  churches 
themselves. 

For  a  time,  and  to  some  extent  still,  the 
missionaries  have  had  to  contend  against 
the  influence  of  Americans  in  Cuba  “who 
lived  in  such  a  way  as  to  recommend  neither 
our  country,  our  government  nor  our  re¬ 
ligion.”  These  adventurers  were  regarded 
as  Protestant  products. 

Twice  also  within  this  decade,  first  in 
1903  and  again  in  1906,  there  arose  a  strong 
anti-American  sentiment  which  was  preju¬ 
dicial  to  our  work.  Indeed,  the  Roman 
Catholic  hierarchy  craftily  characterized  the 
American  missionaries  as  secret  emissaries 
of  the  United  States  to  obtain  ultimate  con¬ 
trol  of  Cuba.  But  at  last  the  magnanimity 
of  the  United  States  government  in  its  deal¬ 
ings  with  Cuba  refuted  tliis  cliarge,  while  the 
discreet  conduct  of  the  missionaries  them¬ 
selves  showed  its  falsity. 

One  of  the  difficulties  encountered  was  the 
inability  of  the  people  to  understand  the 
spiritual  nature  of  the  Christkan  Church;  the 
nature  of  saving  faith  and  tlie  necessity  of 
regeneration.  They  were  utterlv  without 
experience  of  these  things.  The  Bible 
was  an  unknown  book.  The  terminology 
of  evangelical  Protestantism  was  almost  in¬ 
comprehensible.  The  simplest  and  plainest 
truths  to  us  were  to  them  strange  and  mys- 


THE  VIRGIN  OF  COBRE,  PROTECTRESS  OF  CUBA 


tifying.  Old  religious  conceptions  had  to  be 
eradicated  and  new  ideas  patiently  implanted. 

In  some  portions  of  the  field,  as  at  Ciego 
de  Avila,  we  encountered  the  subtle  errors 
of  “Spiritism”  (or  Spiritualism),  which  had 
a  large  followdng.  When  the  Corresponding 
Secretary  of  the  Society  was  in  that  city  in 
1904  a  fierce  controversy  was  raging  between 
the  leaders  of  this  cult  and  of  the  Romish 
Church.  For  a  time  the  public  was  confused, 
supposing  that  because  of  the  emphasis  we 
laid  upon  spirituality  and  the  work  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  we  had  much  in  common  with 
“Spiritism.”  This  misapprehension,  how¬ 
ever,  was  soon  dispelled. 

At  Santiago,  in  1902-3  the  Theosophists, 
under  tire  leadership  of  eloquent  speakers, 
made  a  sensational  campaign  that  momen¬ 
tarily  attracted  general  attention  and  tended 
to  the  unsettlement  of  all  Christian  belief. 

Special  difficulty  was  encountered  in  find¬ 
ing  competent  and  consecrated  superintend¬ 
ents  and  teachers  for  the  maintenance  of 
Sunday  Schools.  There  were  few  available 
helps  on  the  lessons  in  Spanish.  The  Mcn- 
sajero  has  never  published  any  lesson  helps. 
Our  chief  help  has  been  and  still  is  El  Ex¬ 
positor  Biblico,  founded  by  D.  A.  Wilson  in 
October,  1890,  and  still  published  by  the 
Southern  Baptist  Board  in  IMexico.  Young 
people  wlio  have  been  trained  in  our 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


0 


PASTOR  HOWELL,  OF  GUANTANAMO,  READY  FOR  A  TRIP  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 


churches  for  several  years  are  beginning  to 
meet  the  demand  for  workers  in  this  depart¬ 
ment  of  effort. 

One  of  the  main  difficulties  has  been  in  se¬ 
curing  competent  American  missionaries  to 
serve  as  leaders  or  master  builders  for  our 
work.  As  in  all  mission  fields,  so  in  Cuba, 
there  are  many  sacrifices  to  be  made ;  if  a 
man  comes  to  this  field  he  must  be  ready 
to  bear  hardships  as  a  good  soldier  and  to 
accommodate  himself  to  new  conditions  dif¬ 
fering  in  every  way  from  those  he  has 
known  at  home.  Comfortable  accommoda¬ 
tions  in  the  villages  where  there  are  no  hotels 
are  scai'ce,  while  palatable  food  for  Ameri¬ 
cans  is  often  difficult  to  obtain.  It  some¬ 
times  occurs  that  a  man  moved  by  a  ro¬ 
mantic  interest  in  missions  or  by  some 
fervid  appeal  comes  into  the  work,  but 
when  he  finds  the  conditions  here  are 
totally  different  and  that  there  are  many  un¬ 
pleasant  things  to  be  faced  he  cannot  accom¬ 
modate  himself  to  them  and  soon  goes.  We 
have  suffered  in  Cuba  from  this  cause. 

The  lack  of  good  wagon  roads,  except  in 
the  region  of  some  of  the  chief  cities,  makes 
travel  difficult.  The  missionary  who  has  sev¬ 
eral  outstations  under  his  care  must  make 
long  journeys  on  horsehack,  with  light  equip¬ 


ment  for  trips.  Vividly  does  the  Corre¬ 
sponding  Secretary  of  the  Society  lemember 
the  night  ride  in  1904  of  twelve  miles  on 
horseback  from  Songo  to  Dos  Bocas,  an¬ 
other  long  ride  on  a  moonless  night  over  the 
mountains  and  through  ravines  from  El 
Caney  to  the  same  place ;  another  of  fifteen 
miles  from  Niquero  to  Media  Luna,  much 
of  the  way  through  a  wilderness,  the  horses 
floundering  in  the  mud  and  frequently  leap¬ 
ing  over  fallen  trees ;  and  particularly  the 
trip  of  twenty-six  miles  by  wagon  and  a 
threc-mule  team  most  of  the  way  from  Man¬ 
zanillo  to  San  Pedro,  with  a  stop-over  at 
Bayamo ;  the  difficulty  in  crossing  the 
Canto  River  with  its  steep  banks,  and 
the  almost  sleepless  hours  in  the  old 
ambulance  wagon  as  we  camped  for  the 
night  remote  from  any  human  habitation. 
These  trips  made  with  Dr.  IMoseley  disclosed 
the  difficulties  '  under  which  many  mission¬ 
aries  labor  in  meeting  their  engagements.  In 
the  rainy  season  the  swollen  streams,  un¬ 
bridged,  must  be  forded  by  swimming  the 
horses  across.  Several  have  had  narrow  es¬ 
capes  from  drowning,  and  in  making  such 
an  attempt  Rev.  Francisco  Gonzalez  IMunoz 
lost  his  life. 

The  rainy  season,  which  is  at  its  height 


lO 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


during  the  Summer  months,  renders  travel 
over  trails  and  improved  roads  almost 
impossible  and  necessitates  a  partial  suspen¬ 
sion  of  work.  Railroads  now  in  process  of 
construction  will  afford  some  relief,  though 
for  many  years  the  missionary  in  the  in¬ 
terior  must  he  a  circuit  rider  of  the  primi¬ 
tive  type  in  the  early  history  of  our  own 


country  a  hundred  years  ago.  Such  trips 
are  hard  on  man  and  beast,  especially  the 
latter  when  his  rider  weighs  over  two  hun¬ 
dred  pounds.  The  cost  of  procuring  and 
keeping  this  evangelistic  cavalry  force  for 
field  service  is  considerable,  but  is  essential 
in  reaching  communities  aw'ay  from  the  few 
improved  highways  and  railways. 


SCENERY  AROUND  EL  CRISTO 


Chapter  III 
Encouragements 


The  absence,  in  general,  of  fanatical  op¬ 
position  such  as  is  common  in  Roman  Cath¬ 
olic  countries,  manifesting  itself  in  violent 
forms,  has  been  an  encouraging  feature  of 
our  work  in  Cuba.  The  fact  is,  the  liberty- 
loving  people,  in  their  long  and  fearful  strug¬ 
gles  for  independence,  had  hearty  hatred  for 
the  Roman  Iiierarchy  in  league  with  the 
tyrannical  power  of  Spain  to  keep  Cuba  un¬ 
der  the  yoke.  They  cared  little  or  nothing 
for  priestly  anathemas.  The  spirit  of  in¬ 
dependence  asserted  itself  in  religious  as 
well  as  in  political  matters.  Indeed,  the  lat¬ 
ter  was  the  overshadowing  concern  and 
there  was  little  devotion  to  the  church.  Rom¬ 
ish  priests,  whose  support  was  no  longer 
assured  from  public  funds,  returned  in  large 
numbers  to  Spain.  INIissionaries  were  cor¬ 
dially  received  by  many,  found  open  doors 
everywhere,  were  heard  respectfully,  and 
went  about  unmolested. 

The  hospitality  of  the  people  toward  the 
newcomers  is  well  illustrated  by  the  request, 
in  1903,  which  the  mayor  of  an  interior  vil¬ 
lage  sent  to  the  missionary  at  Santiago  to 
go  to  his  town  to  baptize  the  children,  say¬ 


ing  that  they  no  longer  wanted  the  Catholic 
priest,  and  that  they  had  collected  $18  which 
they  would  give  him  if  he  would  go.  Of 
course,  he  took  occasion  to  explain  to  them 
the  Scriptural  reasons  why  he  could  not 
comply  with  their  request. 

In  1904-S  a  series  of  special  evangelistic 
meetings  were  held  from  October  to  April, 
of  from  three  to  ten  days,  at  each  of  the 
main  stations  and  at  many  outstations. 
These  were  largely  attended,  thousands  hear¬ 
ing  for  the  first  time  the  Word  of  God. 
Hundreds  professed  conversion.  If  all  who 
presented  themselves  for  baptism  had  been 
received  more  than  a  thousand  additions 
could  have  been  reported.  After  careful  sift¬ 
ing  474  were  received,  and  others  subse- 
qnenth'.  Prominent  men  in  different  parts 
of  eastern  Cuba  invited  the  missionaries  to 
their  towns  and  villages  to  begin  work,  real¬ 
izing  the  advantage  of  having  the  Gospel 
preached  to  their  people.  The  Mayor  of 
Baire  came  to  Bayamo,  a  distance  of  twen¬ 
ty-five  miles,  to  meet  Dr.  IMoscley  and  the 
Secretary  of  the  Society  in  1904,  and  to  urge 
the  estahlishment  of  our  work  in  his  town. 


T  EX  YEARS  IN  C  U  B  A 


11 


SUNDAY  SCHOOL  AT  CIEGO  DE  AVII.A 


He  was  one  of  the  first  to  make  a  public  pro¬ 
fession  of  Christ  in  that  place,  where  we 
have  a  good  church. 

The  Home  ^Mission  Society  itself  was  en¬ 
couraged  in  its  work  in  eastern  Cuba  not 
only  by  facts  like  the  foregoing,  but  by  the 
remarkable  way  in  which  capable  men,  ex¬ 
perienced  in  work  among  Roman  Catholics 
in  other  countries,  and  who  were  able  ef¬ 
fectively  to  preach  in  the  Spanish  language, 
were  discovered  or  sent  to  us.  Ten  or  twelve 
men  and  women  thus  equipped  have  been 
in  the  Society’s  service  in  Cuba.  Instead  of 
spending  a  year  or  more  in  mastering  the 
language,  they  proceeded  at  once  directly, 
without  the  intervention  of  interpreters,  to 
their  tasks.  More  particular  mention  is 
elsewhere  made  of  these,  and  of  other  work¬ 
ers.  These  things  seemed  to  be  the  sum¬ 
mons  of  an  overruling  Providence  to  press 
forward  vigorously  the  work  of  Cuba’s  evan¬ 
gelization. 

The  interest  taken  by  the  Society’s  constit¬ 
uency.  in  its  efforts  in  tins  direction,  in  gen¬ 


erous  offerings,  has  been  most  encouraging. 
'1  he  visits  of  Dr.  Moseley  and  of  some  oth¬ 
ers  also  to  the  United  States  have  created 
an  intelligent  interest,  and  have  inspired  con¬ 
fidence  in  the  management  of  the  work.  The 
convictions  of  our  most  thoughtful  people 
on  the  subject  of  our  duty  are  in  accord 
with  the  following  statement  by  Dr.  IMose- 
ley :  “The  future  of  Cuba  is  unalterably 

bound  up  with  that  of  the  United  States. 
We  have  made  ourselves  responsible  in  the 
eyes  of  the  world  for  her  political  destiny, 
and  the  Christian  people  of  America,  wheth¬ 
er  they  would  or  not,  are  responsi¬ 
ble  in  the  eyes  of  God  for  the  spiritual  des¬ 
tiny  of  the  Cubans.  No  earnest  servant  of 
the  Master  will  deny  this  solemn  obligation 
of  American  Christians  to  this  needy  people 
who  have  suffered  not  only  from  the  tyran¬ 
ny  and  oppression  of  Spain,  but  also  and 
equally  from  the  blighting  effects  of  four 
centuries  of  Romish  domination  and  op¬ 
pression.’’ 

These  words  of  cheer  are  from  Dr.  IMose- 


12 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


ley's  report  for  the  year  ending  April  I, 
1909: 

“The  year  1908-9  has  been  a  good  one. 
W'e  have  baptized  over  400;  organized  8  new 
churches,  as  follows :  Media  Luna,  Baracoa, 
Veguitas,  Marti,  Palmarito,  Juan  Baron, 
Barajagua,  Tacaniara;  organized  5  new 
Sunday  Schools ;  opened  22  new  stations ; 
built  4  new  chapels,  as  follows :  Cristo, 
Palma  Soriano,  Santa  Rita,  Veguitas;  and 
have  tw'O  under  construction  at  Guan¬ 
tanamo  and  Baracoa,  both  important  cen¬ 
ters  in  the  extreme  eastern  section  of  our 
field  and  of  the  island. 

Ten  years  ago  w'e  had  nothing  in  eastern 
Cuba.  To-day  we  have  42  organized 
churches,  48  stations,  24  male  missionaries, 
7  lady  missionaries,  13  teachers,  2,068  mem¬ 
bers  of  our  churches,  1,450  in  our  35  Sun¬ 
day  schools,  26  chapels  and  2  lots,  church 
property  w'orth  $90,000,  school  property 
wmrth  $50,000,  2  flourishing  day  schools,  2 


academies,  admittedly  the  best  equipped  and 
doing  a  work  such  as  is  not  being  done 
anr'where  else  in  the  island.  We  have  at 
times  been  disheartened,  but  when  w'e  think 
of  w'hat  God  has  done  in  one  decade  we 
thank  Him  and  take  courage." 

GENERAL  CONSPECTUS  BY  YEARS. 


Year. 

Churches 

Organized. 

Baptisms. 

Chapels. 

1900 

2 

I 

1901 

45 

I 

1902 

2 

43 

2 

1903 

4 

152 

1904 

3 

223 

5 

1905 

8 

474 

6 

1906 

7 

375 

1907 

4 

213 

4 

1908 

2 

180 

3 

1909 

9 

420 

4 

Totals . 

.  ..  41 

2,125 

26 

STREET  IN  CAMAGUEY 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


13 


Chapter  IV 
The  Workers 


“Honor  to  whom  honor  is  due.”  Honor¬ 
able  mention  should  be  made  of  the  devoted 
men  and  women  who  have  been  longest  and 
wEo  have  borne  the  heaviest  burdens  in  our 
work  in  eastern  Cuba.  They  have  consti¬ 
tuted  an  exceptionally  efficient  missionary 
force.  They  surely-  seemed  the  sent  of  God 
for  such  a  time  and  task. 

Conspicuous  among  them  is  Hartwell  Ro¬ 
bert  Moseley,  D.D.,  Superintendent  of  the 
work  since  1899.  He  is  a  native  of  South 
Carolina,  a  graduate  of  Furman  University 
and  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Theological 
Seminary.  His  youthful  aspirations  were  for 
a  military  career,  and  it  was  a  great  disap¬ 
pointment  that  circumstances  prevented  him 
from  entering  the  Military  Academy  at  West 
Point.  But  God  evidently  had  another  realm 
of  service  for  the  qualities  of  generalship 
with  which  he  was  endowed,  and  which  have 
been  displayed  in  an  eminent  degree  in  his 
ten  years’  campaign  for  Christ  in  Cuba.  Rev. 
D.  A.  Wilson,  his  associate  for  most 
of  these  years,  wdio  has  had  intimate  knowl¬ 
edge  of  him  and  his  work,  says :  “It 
would  be  impossible  in  a  brief  paragraph  to 
give  any  adequate  idea  of  the  scope  and  de¬ 
tail  of  Dr.  Moseley's  varied  duties  and  re¬ 
sponsibilities.  He  has  shown  exceptional 
ability  in  planning,  organizing  and  extend¬ 
ing  the  w'ork.  His  fine  executive  talent  has 
made  it  possible  for  him  to  carry  the  heavy 
burdens  which  the  position  has  imposed  upon 
him.  The  correspondence,  especially  in  later 
years,  has  been  enormous.  The  question  of 
securing  wmrkers  fast  enough  for  the  rap¬ 
idly  widening  field  presented  a  problem 
which  few  men  would  have  handled  so  well. 
Of  the  large  number  who  have  come  to  us 
during  these  years  only  a  few  were  not  able 
to  speak  Spanish  when  they  reached  their 
fields.  This  has  been  an  immense  saving  of 
time  and  money.  The  distributing  of  the 
workers  to  the  best  advantage,  looking  after 
the  acquisition  of  church  property,  investiga- 
the  validity  of  titles,  supervising  the  con¬ 
struction  of  meeting  houses,  have  all  made 
heavy  drafts  upon  the  time  and  energy  of 


the  Superintendent.  Add  to  these  things 
long  tours  of  exploration  into  new  fields, 
and  of  inspection  of  the  various  mission 
stations,  often  on  horseback  into  regions 
where  there  are  no  railroads,  with  a  sermon 
every  day,  besides  conferences  with  the 
workers  in  charge,  and  we  begin  to  get  some 


idea  of  the  Superintendent’s  activities.  But 
there  is  more  still,  for  numberless  delicate 
and  perplexing  questions  from  all  quarters 
come  to  him  for  solution.  He  must  hear  the 
trials,  difficulties  and  grievances  of  all  the 
brethren,  and  be  expected  to  suggest  a  rem¬ 
edy  for  all  the  evils,  and  a  way  out  of  all 
troubles.  It  is  not  surprising  that  Dr.  Mose¬ 
ley’s  health  has  suffered  under  such  a  bur¬ 
den  of  work  and  care,  and  but  for  the  grace 
<jf  God  above  and  the  care  of  one  of  the  best 
wives  in  Cuba  he  would  have  collapsed  long- 
ago.  For  nearly  three  years  Dr.  IMoseley 
bestowed  an  immense  amount  of  thought 
and  labor  on  the  founding  of  the  College  at 


14 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


IN  FROM  A  RIDE  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 


El  Cristo,  and  for  generations  to  come  the 
institution  will  remain  a  monument  to  his 
wisdom,  zeal  and  perseverance  for  the  cause 
of  Christian  education  in  Cuba.” 

His  visits  to  the  United  States  in  the  in¬ 
terest  of  the  work  were  stimulating  in  in¬ 
creasing  interest  and  securing  contributions 
especially  for  church  edifice  and  educational 
purposes.  He  was  effective  in  addresses  to 
churches,  at  Associations  and  at  the  Soci¬ 
ety’s  anniversaries.  In  the  Summer  of  1909, 
when  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  teachers 
from  Cuba  were  brought  to  New  England, 
he  mingled  with  them  for  several  weeks,  ren¬ 
dering  them  assistance,  establishing  friend¬ 
ships,  and  for  four  Sunday  nights  preaching 
to  large  congregations  in  Spanish  in  the  old 
Cambridge  Baptist  Church.  Mrs.  Moseley 
has  been  a  most  .sympathetic  and  capable 
helper,  rendering  a  varied  service  which  only 
a  consecrated  Christian  woman  can  do 
in  Cuba,  attending  to  correspondence,  and 
placing  at  the  ^Master's  disposal  her  fine 
musical  talent  for  the  churches  and  schools. 

Rev.  D.  A.  Wilson,  who  went  to  Cama- 
giiey,  June  17,  1901,  is  a  native  of  Louisiana, 
and  for  nearly  fifteen  years  was  a  mission¬ 
ary,  most  of  the  time  of  the  Southern  Bap¬ 
tist  Convention,  in  Mexico.  He,  too,  had 
excellent  command  of  the  Spanish  language. 
He  had  the  immediate  charge  of  the  erec¬ 
tion  of  the  fine  house  of  worship  there  and 


of  that  at  Ciego  de  Avila.  For  several 
years  he  was  editor  of  El  Mensajero.  At 
the  meeting  of  the  Association  in  1908 
he  was  chosen  to  visit  the  churches  in  the 
interest  of  the  Sunday  School  work,  especial¬ 
ly  for  the  formation  of  training  classes 
for  teachers.  A  daughter,  who  was  a  stu¬ 
dent  at  Blue  ^Mountain  College,  Mississippi, 
is  a  very  capable  teacher  in  the  school  at  El 
Cristo. 

Rev.  A.  B.  Howell,  who  was  appointed  by 
the  Society  in  April,  1904,  and  who  went 
to  El  Cristo  in  June,  was  horn  at  Browns¬ 
ville,  Texas,  on  the  Mexican  border,  where 
he  learned  to  speak  Spanish  in  his  childhood. 
Subsequently  he  removed  to  Ohio,  and  be¬ 
came  from  1889  a  missionary  of  the  Home 
Mission  Society  to  Aguas  Calientes,  Mexico, 
remaining  about  two  years,  when  he  re¬ 
turned  to  Ohio.  Since  November,  1905,  he 
has  been  in  charge  of  the  important  field  of 
Guantanamo,  with  several  outstations  which 
heavily  taxed  his  time  and  strength.  He  has 
made  a  fine  record. 

Rev.  A.  L.  Story  was  born  in  Camagiiey, 
Cuba,  and  at  an  early  age  was  taken  to  the 
United  States  and  educated  in  Brooklyn, 
N.  Y.  When  quite  young  he  went  to  South 
America,  where  he  was  engaged  in  religious 
and  educational  work  for  about  twenty 
years.  He  went  to  Bayamo  December  15, 
1904.  At  Bayamo.  Baire  and  several  ad- 


T  E  N  YEARS  IN  C  U  R  A 


15 


jacent  places  of  which  he  had  charge,  mak¬ 
ing  long  tours  on  horseback,  his  labors  were 
greatly  blessed.  In  July,  1907.  he  was  trans¬ 
ferred  to  El  Cristo,  preparator\'  to  his  new 
work  as  principal  of  the  schools  that  opened 
in  September.  After  two  years  of  good  work 
in  this  position,  he  wuis  constrained  to  re¬ 
sume  missionary  service  for  several  churches 
in  that  region. 

Rev.  Robert  Routledge,  who  succeeded  Mr. 
Story  as  head  of  the  schools  at  El  Cristo  in 
September,  1908,  is  a  native  of  Canada,  and 
was  for  several  years  a  missionary  to  South 
America,  where  he  accjuired  the  Spanish  lan¬ 
guage,  thus  enabling  him  at  once  to  enter 
upon  his  work  with  ease  and  confidence. 

Rev.  Juan  IMcCarthy,  a  native  of  Great 
Britain,  who  had  been  about  fifteen  years 
in  religious  work  in  South  America,  came  to 
the  United  States  for  the  benefit  of  his 
health  in  1908,  when  he  met  Dr.  Moseley 
and  became  deeply  interested  in  our  work  in 
Cuba.  He  was  duly  ordained  as  a  Baptist 
minister  at  Battle  Creek,  Alich.,  and  was 
appointed  by  the  Board  of  the  Society  in 
September,  1908,  to  Baracoa  and  vicinity, 
where  he  arrived  November  27th.  Speak¬ 
ing  Spanish  fluently,  and  full  of  energy  and 
zeal,  he  ciuickly  made  his  mark  in  that  chief 
city  at  the  eastern  end  of  the  island  and  in 
more  than  twenty  villages  in  the  surrounding- 
country. 

Rev.  F.  J.  Peters  was  appointed  Decem¬ 
ber,  1909,  and  arrived  at  El  Cristo  the  latter 
part  of  that  month.  He  is  of  English 
birth.  When  twenty-five  years  of  age  he 
went  to  South  America  with  two  other 
young  men  imbued  with  the  missionary  spirit, 
making  Peru  their  field  of  labor.  They  en¬ 
dured  great  hardships,  encountered  bitter 
persecution,  were  twice  expelled  from  the 
old  Inca  capital  of  Cuzco,  but  finally  con¬ 
quered  opposition  and  established  a  flour¬ 
ishing  mission  in  that  city.  In  1907  he  came 
to  the  States  for  the  better  education  of  his 
children,  becoming  pastor  of  the  Baptist 
Church  at  Mayville,  N.  Y.  He  becomes 
identified  wdth  the  schools  at  El  Cristo,  and 
it  is  expected  that  under  his  direction  an  in¬ 
dustrial  department  will  be  established.  He 
speaks  Spanish  fluently. 

That  seven  such  capable  men  wdth  their 
families,  of  American  and  English  stock,  and 
able  to  speak  fluently  in  Spanish  the  mo¬ 
ment  they  set  foot  on  Cuban  soil,  should 


have  been  provided  for  this  field  w'as  truly 
remarkable.  The  marvel  grows  when  we 
consider  that  others  from  other  lands  were 
also  led  to  join  them. 

Rev.  Teofilo  Barocio,  a  native  of  Nuevo 
Leon,  and  for  several  years  the  missionary 
of  the  Society  in  the  City  of  Mexico,  was 
appointed  to  Santiago,  wdiere  he  arrived 
in  September,  1899,  remaining  until  January, 
1905,  when  he  returned  to  his  native  land. 
He  was  very  highly  esteemed,  and  the 
Church  enjoyed  much  prosperity  during  his 
pastorate. 


L.  MARTINEZ  BRAVO  AND  WIFE 

Rev.  Luis  Martinez  Bravo,  of  Spain,  who 
has  done  five  years’  faithful  and  efficient 
service  in  Cuba,  w'as  for  four  years  pastor  of 
one  of  our  most  important  churches,  Cama- 
guey,  and  for  the  same  period  editor  of  El 
Mensajero,  and  is  now'  pastor  at  Manzanillo. 

Rev.  Francisco  Pais,  a  native  of  Spain 
and  for  many  years  a  preacher  of  the  Gos¬ 
pel  there,  w’as  also  attracted  to  Cuba,  wdiere 
he  arrived  October  i,  1907,  and  at  once  be¬ 
came  the  missionary  pastor  of  the  church  at 


i6 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


Santiago.  A  cultured  daughter  is  a  val¬ 
uable  helper  in  his  work. 

Rev.  Jose  Ripoll  was  discovered  by  Dr. 
A.  S.  Coats  while  touring  in  the  Old  World. 
He  was  a  native  of  Spain,  was  of  a  fine  fam¬ 
ily,  who  discarded  him  when  he  renounced 
Romanism,  and  to  escape  persecution  he 
went  to  Algiers  to  preach  the  Gospel  among 
the  Spanish  residents  there.  Correspondence 
with  him  resulted  in  his  appointment  by  the 
Society  to  Manzanillo,  where  he  arrived  in 
August,  1902,  and  where  his  labors  were  very 
successful.  Subsequently  he  was  at  Santi¬ 
ago,  but  is  not  now  in  our  service. 

Rev.  Francisco  Gonzalez  Munoz,  a  friend 
of  Mr.  Ripoll,  came  from  Spain  in  Novem¬ 
ber,  1904,  and  succeeded  the  latter  at  Man¬ 
zanillo  in  January,  1905.  He  was  a  man  of 
deep  spirituality  and  much  ability,  and  most 
highly  esteemed  by  his  people.  The  fol¬ 
lowing  June,  while  attempting  to  ford  a 
swollen  river  on  one  of  his  long  missionary 
tours  on  horseback  he  was  drowned,  leaving 
a  dependent  widow  and  several  children. 

His  successor  at  Manzanillo  was  Juan 
Belda,  who  had  been  converted  under  Mr. 
Gonzalez’  ministry  in  Spain,  and  who  was 
strongly  drawn  to  become  associated  with 
him  in  his  work  in  Cuba.  Great  was  his 
grief  on  learning  when  he  arrived  of  the 
death  of  his  dear  friend.  Since  July  14, 
1906,  he  has  had  charge  of  the  wmrk  in  and 
around  that  city. 

Thus  it  appears  that  a  good  Providence 
sent  fourteen  well-equipped  and  experienced 
men  from  other  countries  to  our  field  in 
eastern  Cuba  within  the  first  decade  of  our 
operations  there.  To  these  must  be  added 
members  of  their  households  who  have  ren¬ 
dered  most  valuable  service ;  also  one  or  two 
women  missionaries  who  had  acquired  the 
Spanish  language.  We  know  of  nothing  like 
this  in  any  other  mission  field. 

It  is  impracticable  to  enumerate  in  detail 
the  native  workers  who  have  been  appointees 
of  the  Society  in  Cuba.  It  will  not,  how¬ 
ever,  be  deemed  invidious  to  mention  the 
names  of  some  who  have  borne  the  heat 
and  burden  of  this  decade  in  their  numerous 
fields:  J.  R.  O’Halloran,  Jose  Escandell,  Pe¬ 
dro  Deulofeu.  J.  Gonzalez  Perez,  (deceased 
January  12,  1910),  Pablo  Valdez.  There  are 
fifteen  native  preachers,  and  seven  Spaniards, 
some  of  whom  are  not  ordained,  who, 
though  not  highly  educated,  are  very  zeal- 


JUAN  BELDA  AND  FAJLILY 


ous,  and  in  most  instances  have  done  very 
acceptable  work. 

Three  appointees  of  the  Woman’s  Amer¬ 
ican  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society,  Miss 
Anna  M.  Barkley,  Miss  Mary  W.  Merriam 
and  Miss  Etfie  Purdy,  who  have  been  in 
Cuba  during  the  most  of  this  period,  have 
contributed  greatly  to  the  success  of  the 
work  in  their  several  fields.  Worthy  of  high 
commendation  is  the  heroic  devotion  wdrich 
some  of  them  have  displayed.  Another  of 
this  number,  now  in  South  America,  was 
Miss  Emma  Gowen,  formerly  a  missionary 
in  Mexico,  who  for  several  years  had  charge 
of  the  school  at  Santiago,  and  whose  influ¬ 
ence  in  behalf  of  temperance  and  right  liv¬ 
ing  made  a  profound  impression  on  her 
pupils. 

Concerning  the  wives  of  the  missionaries 
Rev.  D.  A.  Wilson,  who  has  a  helpmate  of 
the  kind  he  describes,  says : 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


17 


“They  have  been  at  all  times  a  silent  but 
mighty  force;  indeed,  their  presence  and  in¬ 
fluence  are  quite  indispensable.  The  work 
of  the  missionary's  wife  is  so  intimately  and 
inseparably  bound  up  with  that  of  her  hus¬ 
band  that  in  telling  his  story  we  have  told 
hers,  but  without  mentioning  her  name.  And 
yet  not  all,  for  much  of  the  woman’s  work 
is  of  such  a  nature  that  it  would  seem  out  of 
place  if  woven  into  the  story,  although  just 
as  important  to  the  end  sought  as  the  preach¬ 
ing  of  sermons,  baptizing  of  converts  or 
building  of  meeting-houses. 

“The  missionary’s  home  is  a  factor  of  incal¬ 
culable  importance  in  the  work  of  evangel¬ 
ization,  and  if  is  the  wife  who  makes  the 
home.  Personal  work  with  the  individual 
is  as  fruitful  of  results  as  the  public  preach¬ 
ing  to  the  congregation,  and  in  this  line  of 
service  the  wife  is  often  more  useful  than 
her  husband.  Her  skill  in  music,  her  voice 
in  song  and  her  very  presence  in  the  house 


of  prayer  have  brought  thousands  under  the 
influence  of  the  Gospel  who  would  not  other¬ 
wise  have  come.  And  only  at  the  day  of  final 
reward  will  it  be  known  how  many 
3'oung  souls  have  been  led  to  the  feet  of 
Jesus  and  how  man}-  Christian  characters 
have  been  strengthened  and  polished  by  her 
work  from  week  to  week  in  the  Sunday 
School.  No  one  can  take  the  place  of  the 
missionary's  wife  in  the  mothers’  meeting, 
the  social  gathering,  in  the  sick-room  and 
in  many  other  places  where  her  presence  is 
an  inspiration  and  a  benediction.” 

For  the  increasing  force  of  laborers  to 
meet  future  demands  we  may  trust  Him 
who  has  so  graciously  provided  for  the  needs 
hitherto,  remembering,  however,  that  it  now 
devolves  upon  His  people  to  furnish  those 
educational  advantages  which  are  needful 
for  the  training  of  a  native  ministry,  and 
that  we  may  not  continue  to  expect  like  ac¬ 
cessions  from  other  lands. 


EL  CANEY  AS  SEEN  FROM  SAN  JUAN  HILL. 


i8 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


EXTERIOR  OF  A  COCKPIT - SITE  OF  GUANTANAMO  CHURCFI 


Chapter  V 

Our  Church  Edifice  Work  in  Cuba 


The  building  of  meeting-houses  has  been 
a  conspicuous  feature  of  our  work  in  east¬ 
ern  Cuba.  Exceptional  conditions  required 
it.  When  a  missionary  went  into  a  village 
or  city  the  problem  was  to  find  a  suitable 
place  in  which  to  preach.  There  were  no 
school  houses.  Public  halls  were  few  and 
generally  used  for  pleasure  on  Sunday.  In 
the  cities  high  rental  had  to  be  paid  for  resi¬ 
dential  quarters  into  which  small  congrega¬ 
tions  could  be  gathered,  wdrile  others  stood 
at  the  open  doors  and  windows;  while  in  the 
simple  dwellings  of  the  villages  and  rural 
districts  there  was  no  adequate  room  what¬ 
ever.  Secular  buildings  rented  and  roughly 
fitted  up  for  religious  uses  did  not  appeal 
to  the  Cuban,  who  had  been  accustomed  to 
the  stately  structures  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  Moreover,  he  regarded  these  new¬ 
comers  as  perhaps  transients,  whose  work 
might  be  ..evanescent — religious  adventurers 
who  might  be  here  to-day  and  away  to-mor¬ 
row.  Meeting-houses,  therefore,  were  a 
prime  necessity  for  effective  work  and  to 
gain  the  respect  and  confidence  of  the  peo¬ 
ple.  The  erection  of  a  good  chapel  was 
standing  notification  that  we  were  there  to 
stay.  For  baptismal  and  for  Sunday  school 
purposes,  also  properly  equipped  houses  of 
worship  were  essential. 

This  work  was  exceptionally  difficult  and 
expensive.  In  Western  mission  fields  most 
of  the  amount  required  for  meeting-houses 


is  given  by  the  churches  and  the  communi¬ 
ties  in  which  they  are  located;  State  conven¬ 
tions  also  frequently  aiding,  so  that  the  So¬ 
ciety’s  grant  is  supplementary  and  stimu¬ 
lating,  and  usually  of  a  moderate  amount. 
But  the  Cuban  converts  in  their  poverty 
could  give  but  little,  while  the  community  at 
large  regarded  the  project  of  a  Baptist 
Chapel  with  abhorrence.  Priest  and  bishop 
warned  their  flocks  against  aiding  in  such 
matters.  And  yet,  to  their  credit  be  it  said 
that  frequently  the  country  churches  have 
taken  the  initiative  in  securing  chapels  by 
gifts  of  sites  and  of  money  for  these  pur¬ 
poses.  In  1905,  Dr.  Moseley  wrote :  “In 
Joturo,  Ensenada,  Ti  Arriba  and  Yara  the 
members  of  the  churches  or  congregations 
have  agreed  to  contribute  half  the  cost  of  the 
chapels.” 

In  the  chief  cities,  however,  desirable  sites 
were  expensive.  Buildings  as  well  as  the 
land  had  to  be  bought.  The  first  property 
secured  was  in  the  city  of  Santiago — an  ex¬ 
cellent  location  on  which  was  a  spacious 
structure  affording  an  abode  for  the  native 
missionary,  rooms  for  a  day  school  and, 
after  remodelling,  a  large  audience  room. 
The  entire  cost  was  $13,350.34.  It  is  worth 
considerably  more  now.  This  equipment 
gave  us  an  influential  standing  in  the  city 
and  the  surrounding  region. 

In  the  city  second  in  size,  Camaguey,  in 
the  Province  of  the  same  name,  the  cost 


T  E  N  YEARS  IN  CUB  A 


CHXTRCIl  AT  GUANTANAMO 


of  an  excellent  site  and  the  erection  of  the 
brick  structure,  and  the  utilization  of  part 
of  the  old  huilding  for  a  parsonage  involved 
an  outlay  of  $12,663. 

In  Manzanillo,  Guantanamo  and  Baracoa, 
similar  conditions  necessitated  unusual  out¬ 
lay.  At  El  Cristo,  also,  partly  in  order  to 
provide  a  place  for  chapel  exercises  and  pub¬ 
lic  services  in  connection  with  our  schools, 
a  large  and  substantial  building  was  neces¬ 
sary. 

Titles  to  property  acciuired  for  these  pur¬ 
poses  had  to  be  very  carefully  e.xamined. 
In  the  principal  cities  the  title  was  passed 
in  the  usual  way.  In  many  of  the  minor 
cities  or  villages,  the  title  to  the  land  is  in 
the  municipality,  the  occupants  having  in¬ 
definite  rights  so  long  as  they  pay  the  an¬ 
nual  tax  rate  thereon.  In  such  cases,  we  pur¬ 
chase  the  im])rovements  on  the  property  and 
after  proper  action  by  the  officials  become 
possessors  perpetually  on  the  same  terms. 

Building  material  is  also  exceptionally  ex¬ 
pensive.  Lumber,  cement  and  many  other 
articles  required  have  to  be  obtained  from 
the  States.  In  addition  to  heavy  freight  rates 
are  the  duties  thereon. 


Dealers  frequently  charged  exorbitantly  for 
the  material  needed.  This  led  Dr.  Moseley 
to  purchase  most  of  the  lumber  required, 
from  large  dealers  in  the  States,  thereby  ef¬ 
fecting  it  is  estimated  a  saving  of  several 
thousand  dollars. 

Skilled  and  trustworthy  labor  and  capable 
supervision  of  the  construction  of  chapels 
were  difficult  to  obtain.  Dr.  Mosele}^  him¬ 
self  personally  attended  to  some  of  this 
work ;  but  fortunately  secured  an  American 
as  superintendent  as  well  as  ■  a  personal 
worker  who  has  been  continuously  occupied 
ill  this  way  for  about  five  years. 

When  Secretary  Morehouse  was  in  Cuba 
in  1904  he  took  part  in  the  dedication  of 
three  chapels  in  one  week,  at  San  Luis,  Dos 
Caminos  and  El  Cristo,  while  at  the  same 
time  the  edifice  at  Camagitey  was  well  ad¬ 
vanced.  Those  were  busy  times  for  the  su¬ 
perintendent  of  missions,  who,  in  addition, 
to  many  other  things,  had  to  look  after  all 
financial  matters  connected  therewith,  just 
as  in  similar  circumstances  he  has  done  many 
times  since. 

For  the  chapels  in  the  villages  of  the  in¬ 
terior,  remote  from  railways  and  improved 


YARA 


DOS  CAMTNOS 


CANEY 


CAUTO 


PALMA  SORIANO  BARACOA 


GROUP  OF  CHURCH  EDIFICES  ERECTED  BY  ONE  MAN 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


21 


highways,  much  of  the  material  has  to  be 
hauled  long  distances  by  ox  teams  over 
rough  roads  that  make  large  loads  impossi¬ 
ble.  This  has  also  added  to  the  cost.  In 
the  rural  districts  and  villages  the  chapels 
are  of  wood ;  in  the  principal  cities  of  brick 
with  a  coating  of  cement  as  protection 
against  heavy  rains,  or  of  concrete. 

There  are  parsonages,  as  follows :  At  San¬ 
tiago,  as  part  of  the  original  purchase ;  at 
Manzanillo,  Camagiiey  and  Guantanamo,  con¬ 
nected  with  the  church  edifices  there.  The 
cost  of  these  has  been  approximately  $7,000, 
part  of  which  is  included  in  the  amounts 
for  church  edifices  as  shown  in  the  tables  and 
a  part  of  which  is  otherwise  provided  for. 

These  large  achievements  in  Church  Edi¬ 
fice  work  within  the  short  period  of  about 
ten  years  have  been  made  possible  mainly 
by  the  liberality  of  a  few  individuals,  and 
by  the  ability  and  energy  of  Superintendent 
Moseley.  And  all  this  has  been  done  with¬ 
out  perceptibly  diminishing  the  amount  ap¬ 
propriated  by  the  Society  for  Church  Edifice 
work  in  the  States  as  compared  with  the 
amount  expended  therein  during  the  pre¬ 
vious  decade.  The  largest  giver  has  been 
Air.  John  D.  Rockefeller,  of  New  York,  who 
has  given  almost  as  much  for  chapels  in 
Porto  Rico ;  his  total  contribution  for  both 
being  $102,000.  Air.  M.  C.  Treat,  of  Penn¬ 
sylvania,  has  given  $11,200  toward  the  erec¬ 
tion  of  seven  chapels — at  Jiguani,  Caney, 
Mir  Canto,  Yara,  Palma  Soriano  and  Bara- 
coa.  Pie  has  also  made  a  conditional  pledge 


to  erect  several  other  rural  chapels  if  other 
donors  will  erect  an  equal  number.  Other 
principal  donors  are :  Henry  A.  Pevear,  of 
Alassachusetts,  $250;  The  Washington  Street 
Church,  Lynn,  Alassachusetts,  $461.62;  Hon. 
H.  K.  Porter,  Pennsylvania,  $1,000;  the  Eirst 
Baptist  Church,  Alalden,  Alassachusetts,  $250; 
Aliss  Frances  J.  Huntley,  New  York,  $500; 
the  First  Baptist  Church,  Washington,  Penn¬ 
sylvania,  for  the  Stephen  Drummond  Alenio- 
rial  Chapel  at  Dos  Caminos,  $1,400;  Airs. 
Sarah  A.  Trevor,  Pennsylvania,  $1,000; 
Air.  E.  J.  Barney,  Ohio,  for  a  chapel 
at  Jarahueca,  $250;  Airs.  E.  J.  Barney,  Ohio, 
for  a  chapel  at  Ensenada,  $250;  Hon.  James 
L.  Howard,  Connecticut,  $100 ;  W.  A.  Alonro, 
Esq.,  Alassachusetts,  $350;  Baptists  of  West 
Virginia,  per  Rev.  J.  S.  Stump,  for  the  chapel 
at  Baire,  $1,081.88;  Air.  and  Airs.  J.  S.  Ste¬ 
phenson,  of  New  York,  for  the  chapel  at 
Santa  Rita,  $700,  and  for  that  at  Alarti,  $800. 
There  have  been  many  contributors  of 
smaller  sums,  aggregating  a  considerable 
amount. 

The  heaviest  and  most  expensive  work  in 
this  particular  is  nearly  accomplished.  But, 
within  the  next  five  years  at  least  twenty- 
five  rural  chapels,  costing  from  .$500  to  $r,ooo 
each,  should  be  erected.  Even  now,  there  are 
fourteen  churches  without  a  house  of  wor¬ 
ship.  Those  communities,  generally,  never 
have  had  any  church  edifice,  so  that  in  build¬ 
ing  chapels  there  we  supply  the  religious  des¬ 
titution  and  in  an  unusual  degree  attract 
and  hold  congregations. 


BAPTIST  CHURCH  AT  EL  CRISTO.  COLLEGE  BUILDINGS  IN  THE  DISTANCE 


22 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


MOSELEY  HALL.  (GIRLS’  DORMITORY).  GIRLS’  RECITATION  HALL  AND  DINING  HALL 


Chapter  VI 
Educational 


Under  Spanish  and  Romish  domination, 
there  was  no  general  educational  system  for 
Cuba.  The  majority  of  the  people  were  illit¬ 
erate.  Under  the  new  order  of  things  a  feeble 
attempt  has  been  made  to  improve  these  con¬ 
ditions.  During  the  occupancy  of  the  island 
by  the  United  States  Government  quite  an 
impulse  was  given  to  the  movement  for  bet¬ 
ter  schools,  by  bringing  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  teachers  to  the  States  to  study  edu¬ 
cational  methods. 

Missionaries  in  Cuba  found  the  people 
anxious  for  the  education  of  their  children 
in  the  new  era  upon  which  the  country  had 
entered.  Moreover,  it  was  most  evident 
that  some  educational  work  should  be  under¬ 
taken  by  us  if  our  churches  and  Sunday 
schools  were  to  have  intelligent  native  lead¬ 
ers  in  the  future.  The  Society  therefore  in 
the  fall  of  1900  fitted  up  school  rooms  in  its 
newly  acquired  property  at  Santiago,  the 
Woman’s  American  Baptist  Home  Mission 
Society  of  Boston  cooperating  in  the  sup¬ 
port  of  a  teacher.  Miss  Elma  Gowen,  of 


Maine,  who  had  been  a  teacher  in  Mexico 
and  had  acquired  command  of  the  Spanish 
language,  continued  in  charge  of  this  work 
for  about  five  years.  She  was  an  earnest  and 
consecrated  worker  who  left  a  lasting  im¬ 
press  on  her  pupils.  In  1904  an  enrollment 
of  about  fifty  pupils  was  reported.  The 
school  has  contributed  largely  to  the  strength 
of  the  Santiago  Church,  as  shown  in  its 
Christian  Endeavor  Societ_v. 

In  December,  1904,  a  da}’  school  was  begun 
at  Manzanillo.  This  suffered  from  frequent 
changes  of  teachers  and  from  unsatisfactory 
accommodations,  and  was  discontinued  after 
two  or  three  years. 

In  Guantanamo  a  day  school  was  opened 
in  the  fall  of  1908 ;  and  another  at  Baracoa 
in  1909.  These  are  maintained  to  a  consider¬ 
able  extent  by  tuition  fees. 

The  pre-eminent  need  was  a  good  board¬ 
ing  school  of  academic  grade  where  the  pu¬ 
pils  would  be  constantly  under  formative 
Christian  influences  for  the  development  of 
their  spiritual  as  well  as  their  intellectual 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


23 


TREAT  HALL  (bOYS’  DORMITORY) 


natures.  Dr.  Moseley  and  the  Society’s  rep¬ 
resentatives  at  the  Rooms  in  New  York  were 
in  full  accord  in  this  matter. ‘To  establish 
such  an  institution  would  be  attended  with 
much  expense  for  a  site,  for  buildings  and 
equipment.  The  way  opened  in  the  gift  by 
Mr.  M.  C.  Treat,  of  Pennsylvania,  of  $5,000 
toward  the  enterprise.  IMr.  John  D.  Rocke¬ 
feller  also  gave  $2,000  and  others  smaller 
sums.  After  very  careful  consideration, 
a  site  was  selected  at  El  Cristo,  near  San¬ 
tiago,  the  highest  point  on  the  line  of  the 


railway  from  Santiago  to  Havana,  and 
beautiful  for  situation.  The  campus  em¬ 
braces  about  fourteen  acres.  Work  on  the 
buildings  was  begun  in  December,  1904,  and 
the  school  was  formally  opened  September 
9,  1907 ;  the  dedicatory  exercises  occurring  on 
February  5,  1908,  when  representatives  of  the 
Home  Mission  Society  in  the  persons  of  Dr. 
George  Sale.  Superintendent  of  Education, 
and  Rev.  H.  B.  Grose,  Editorial  Secretary, 
and  a  number  of  others  from  the  States  were 
present.  The  two  dormitory  buildings,  one 


THE  BASEBALL  CLUB  OF  THE  COLLEGE  AT  EL  CRISTO 


24 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


for  boys,  the  other  for  girls,  each  90x45  feet 
and  two  stories  in  height,  are  constructed  in 
the  most  substantial  manner  of  hollow  con¬ 
crete  blocks  and  present  a  fine  appearance. 
Besides  these,  there  are  three  frame  buildings 
for  dining  hall,  gymnasium  and  girls’  class 
rooms.  The  entire  work  was  under  Dr. 
Moseley’s  efficient  supervision.  Land,  build¬ 
ings  and  equipment  cost  in  round  numbers 
$45,000.  There  are  accommodations  for  100 
boarders.  The  girls’  building  is  known  as 
“Moseley  Hall,”  as  a  tribute  to  his  important 
share  in  the  enterprise ;  and  the  boys’  build¬ 
ing  is  named  “Treat  Hall,”  in  honor  of  a 
generous  donor,  Mr.  M.  C.  Treat,  of  Pennsyl¬ 
vania. 

It  was  thought  that  the  attendance,  the 
first  year,  would  be  about  eighty  boarding 
pupils  and  thirty  day  scholars ;  great  was  the 
surprise  and  delight  over  an  enrollment  of 
133  boarders  and  forty  day  pupils,  a  total  of 
173.  Two  houses  for  additional  dormitory 
room  for  boys  had  to  be  secured,  and  appli¬ 
cations  from  others  for  admission  were  re¬ 
fused.  Catholic  parents  gladly  paid  the  ex¬ 
pense  of  $20  per  month  for  the  privileges  of 
the  school.  Many  pupils  from  Catholic 
families  have  been  converted  in  the  school. 
Thirty-eight  pupils  were  baptized  last  year. 
From  Baptist  churches  and  congregations 
promising  students  come  who,  in  many  cases, 
require  from  $50  to  $100  to  enable  them  to 
complete  their  year’s  course.  Among  the 
number  are  several  who  expect  to  become 
preachers  of  the  Gospel.  Rev.  A.  L.  Story 
was  drafted  from  the  missionary  service  to 
be  the  head  of  the  school  the  first  year.  He 
was  succeeded  in  the  fall  of  1908  by  Rev. 


Robert  Routledge,  of  Canada,  who  had  been 
a  missionary  teacher  among  the  Spanish 
people  of  South  America.  It  is  reasonably 
expected  that  the  schools,  “Los  Colegios  In- 
ternacionales  de  El  Cristo,”  will  have  an  in¬ 
come  that  will  go  far  toward  their  mainte¬ 
nance,  though  further  equipment  is  needed 
now.  “If  our  schools  are  to  meet  the  needs 
of  the  hour,”  says  Dr.  Moosely,  “we  should 
have  better  equipment,  enlarged  teaching 
force,  etc.  We  should  have  at  once  a  normal 
department,  also  a  theological  department. 
This  year  we  should  have  another  dormitory 
for  boys,  a  modest  chemical  and  physical 
laboratory,  and  in  the  near  future  we  should 
do  something  to  meet  the  demand  for  indus¬ 
trial  and  mechanical  training.  It  is  to  be 
hoped  that  the  friends  of  the  schools  who 
have  made  such  a  generous  beginning  will 
not  allow  these  institutions  to  lose  the  glori¬ 
ous  opportunity  they  have  of  leading  in  the 
educational  development  of  the  island.  We 
are  at  the  head.  Let  us  remain  in  the  lead 
in  this  good  work.” 

Sagacious  men  who  have  recently  visited 
Cuba  to  study  missionary  methods  there, 
confirm  the  statement  that  “we  are  at  the 
head”  in  these  things  and  heartily  commend 
what  has  been  done,  as  well  as  what  we  pro¬ 
pose  to  do,  viz.,  to  open  and  maintain  day 
schools  at  seven  principal  centers  in  our 
field,  for  the  sake  of  the  churches  there  and 
as  feeders  to  the  schools  at  El  Cristo.  To 
those  who  want  to  have  a  part  in  doing  some¬ 
thing  worth  while,  something  greatly  needed, 
something  of  a  high  order  and  far-reaching- 
in  its  influence,  here  is  opportunity  for  gen¬ 
erous  investment  for  the  Kingdom  of  God. 


GIRLS  FROM  CAM.^GUEV  AT  EL  CRISTO  SCIIOOI. 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


25 


SOME  OF  THE  BOYS  IN  THE  SCHOOL  AT  EL  CRISTO 


Chapter  VII 

Constructive  Work 


Evangelization  is  the  first  business  in  mis¬ 
sions.  The  blasting  of  rocks  from  the  quarry, 
however,  is  but  the  beginning  of  a  long  proc¬ 
ess  in  the  building  of  an  enduring  struc¬ 
ture.  They  must  be  hammered  and  shaped 
for  their  respective  places  and  assembled  and 
arranged  for  service  according  to  the  archi¬ 
tect’s  design.  Edification  must  tread  closely 
on  the  heels  of  evangelization. 

Now,  it  should  be  remembered  that  the 
Cubans  never  had  any  conception  of  Chris- 
tion  churches  organized  and  administered  on 
the  democratic  principle  of  the  Baptists. 
They  were  the  passive  subjects  of  tyrannical 
priestly  rule.  They  had  no  initiative ;  no 
voice  in  the  management  of  affairs,  no  sense 
of  personal  responsibility  for  success  or  fail¬ 
ure  in  religious  enterprises;  they  were  utterly 
inexperienced  and  untutored  in  even  the 
rudiments  of  associated  self-direction  char¬ 
acteristic  of  Baptist  churches.  They  had  to 


be  tauglit  the  alphabet  of  a  new  vocabulary 
in  religious  matters  and  “how  to  behave 
themselves”  as  members  of  a  local  church 
and  in  their  relations  with  other  churches. 
It  required  patience,  tact  and  time  on  the 
part  of  our  “master  builders”  to  get  this  ma¬ 
terial  harmoniously  adjusted  as  a  voluntary 
coherent  body.  The  new  feeling  of  liberty 
and  equality  at  times  over-asserted  itself  and 
made  trouble.  The  people  had  never  been 
accustomed  to  give  statedly  for  the  support 
of  the  pastor  and  for  missionary  purposes. 
The  contribution  box  was  not  welcomed. 
They  never  attended  a  prayer  meeting;  and 
a  Sunday  School  was  to  them  a  new  thing 
under  the  sun.  They  knew  nothing  about 
participation  in  gatherings  of  representatives 
of  churches  in  Baptist  Associations.  Founda¬ 
tions  had  to  be  laid  and  the  superstructure 
reared  by  experienced  and  sagacious  men. 

Gradually  out  of  chaos  came  order.  The 


26 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


principles  and  polity  and  practice  of  the  New 
Testament  churches  were  explained  and,  as 
soon  as  practicable,  groups  of  the  new  con¬ 
verts  were  organized  after  this  pattern.  If 
at  times  they  made  bungling  work  of  it,  they 
only  did  what  many  others  in  the  United 
States  have  done. 

The  first  Baptist  Association  in  eastern 
Cuba  was  held  at  El  Cristo,  February  7, 
1905,  with  forty  delegates  from  fourteen 
churches  and  outstations.  At  the  second 
meeting  at  Las  Tunas,  April,  1906,  twenty- 
two  churches  were  represented,  and  at  the 
meeting  in  Santiago,  in  April,  1909,  there 
were  forty-one.  At  this  last  meeting  it  was 
unanimously  voted  to  change  the  name  of  the 
body  from  “Association”  to  “Convention.” 
It  is  expected  that  there  will  shortly  be  three 
Associations  within  the  general  body. 

The  compacting  and  unifying  influence  of 
these  gatherings  is  very  great.  At  the  first 
meeting  steps  were  taken  to  support  a  native 
worker ;  to  establish  a  ministers’  institute 
during  the  summer  months ;  and  to  maintain 
a  correspondence  school  fo'r  ministers.  The 
sessions  of  the  Associations  are  largely  edu¬ 
cative.  An  organized  body  for  effective  work 
in  the  future  is  being  evolved. 

Another  effective  agency  in  this  work  of 
edification  is  the  Baptist  paper  El  Mensa- 
jcro.  At  a  meeting  of  several  workers,  with 
Secretary  Morehouse,  at  Dr.  iMoseley’s  home 
February  10,  1904,  it  was  decided  to  publish 
a  monthly  paper,  and  Rev.  D.  A.  Wilson  was 
chosen  as  its  editor.  The  first  number  ap¬ 
peared  in  July,  1904.  From  the  latter  part 
of  1905  it  has  been  issued  semi-monthly.  For 
two  or  three  years  the  American  Baptist 
Publication  Society  assisted  to  the  extent  of 
$200  annually  toward  its  publication.  The 
discontinuance  of  this  appropriation  imposes 
upon  the  Home  ^Mission  Society  the  necessity 
of  providing  the  supplementary  amount  re¬ 
quired  in  addition  to  what  is  received  from 
subscriptions.  The  business  management  of 
the  paper  is  in  the  hands  of  Dr.  Moseley, 
Bro.  Luis  Alartinez  Bravo  left  the  editor¬ 
ship  of  the  paper  December  31.  1909.  and 
Rev.  D.  A.  Wilson  was  again  put  in  charge. 

In  this  process  of  upbuilding,  the  Sunday 
School  bears  an  important  part.  Concerning 
this  Rev.  D.  A.  Wilson  says : 

“In  many  of  our  churches  in  Cuba  where 
there  is  no  resident  missionary,  it  has  been 
impossible  to  keep  up  the  Sunday  School,  for 


lack  of  leaders  and  teachers.  At  this  time 
nothing  is  more  urgently  needed  in  this  field 
than  the  systematic  training  of  teachers.  A 
large  proportion  of  the  towns  in  the  two 
Provinces  have  been  reached  with  the  Gos¬ 
pel.  We  have  now  forty  churches,  and  nearly 
as  many  more  preaching  stations.  Many  of 
these  are  without  any  service  on  the  Lord’s 
Day,  because  the  missionary  cannot  be  at  all 
the  places  under  his  care  on  that  day.  The 
crying  need  is  for  trained  teachers  who  can 
carry  on  a  Sunday  School  in  these  congre¬ 
gations.  Most  of  the  native  pastors  them¬ 
selves  have  had  scant  opportunity  for  learn¬ 
ing  the  secrets  of  successful  Sunday  School 
work,  and  even  in  the  churches  where  they 
live  the  schools  are  far  from  what  they 
should  be,  both  in  point  of  attendance  and 
of  the  character  of  the  work  done.  Realizing 
this  great  need,  the  Superintendent,  Dr. 
Moseley,  at  the  Association  in  1908,  pro¬ 
posed  that  some  one  be  named  to  visit  the 
churches  with  a  view  to  arousing  more  gen¬ 
eral  interest,  and  of  suggesting  methods  for 
improving  the  work  of  the  schools.  The 
proposal  met  with  a  hearty  response  from 
the  pastors,  and  Rev.  D.  A.  Wilson  was 
chosen  for  the  work.  Brother  Wilson  spent 
a  little  more  than  two  months  visiting  the 
churches,  and  met  a  warm  welcome  from  the 
pastors  and  workers  generally.  During  these 
visits  sixteen  Training  Classes  were  formed 


FOUR  RACES  FOUND  IN  CUBA 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


27 


N. 


with  an  average  of  about  ten  to  the  class. 
This  does  not  include  the  classes  aggrega¬ 
ting  about  sixt}',  who  have  been  taking  the 
course  in  the  schools  at  El  Cristo.  It  is 
not  possible  to  form  classes  at  every  church, 
for  lack  of  a  competent  leader.  Some  of  the 
classes  have  been  doing  fine  work,  and  if 
only  one  in  ten  of  those  enrolled  should 
complete  the  course  it  would  mean  much  for 
the  future  of  our  schools. 

“In  this  Teaching  Training  work,  we  are  at 
a  great  disadvantage  for  lack  of  literature. 
In  the  past  few  years  the  Sunday  School 
workers  of  the  English-speaking  world  have 
produced  a  surprisingly  large  number  of 
valuable  works  along  this  line,  but  in  Spanish 
we  have  almost  nothing.  The  lessons  so  far 
used  in  our  training  classes  have  been  trans¬ 
lated  from  English  by  Rev.  A.  L.  Story,  and 
published  by  j\Ir.  Wilson.  In  this  matter  we 
need  and  must  have  the  cooperation  of  our 
publishing  houses  in  the  United  States.  The 
work  is  only  just  begun,  and  must  be  pushed 
to  the  front  as  rapidly  as  possible.” 

It  is  cheering  to  note  the  most  recent  ad¬ 
vance  in  interdenominational  work  in  the  in¬ 
terests  of  Sunday  Schools  in  Cuba.  The 
Sunday  School  Association  for  the  island, 
at  its  meeting  in  Cienfuegos  in  November, 
1909,  created  an  Executive  Committee  of 
thirty-three,  ten  of  whom  are  Baptists,  for 
the  effective  prosecution  of  the  work.  The 
Louisiana  State  S.  S.  Association  in  coop¬ 
eration  with  the  International  S.  S.  Associa¬ 
tion  has  promised  to  support  a  Sunday 
School  Secretary  for  Cuba,  and  to  publish 
literature  approved  by  the  Executive  Com¬ 
mittee  which  will  direct  the  work  of  the 
Secretary.  Dr.  Moseley  is  Treasurer  of  the 
General  Executive  Committee  and  of  the 
Central  Committee  charged  with  details  of 
the  work.  All  this  means  much  for  Cuba. 

The  training  of  the  native  ministry  is  an¬ 
other  vital  part  of  our  constructive  work. 
Dr.  Moseley  says  : 

“God,  in  a  remarkable  way,  has  raised  up 
to  us  workers  from  other  fields  who  knew 
the  Spanish  language,  and  who  had  expe¬ 
rience  in  the  work.  He  has  also  greatly 
blessed  us  by  giving  us  a  number  of  conse¬ 
crated,  Godly,  native  workers,  who  have, 
from  time  to  time,  entered  our  work  and 
done  good,  honest  service.  Erom  the  be¬ 
ginning  we  realized  that  we  should  do  some¬ 
thing  to  give  some  special  training  to  these 


untrained  native  workers.  They  could  not 
leave  their  field  to  take  a  regular  theological 
course,  many  of  them  were  married,  and  had 
families,  and  for  that  reason  could  not  take 
the  course  of  study. 

“Eor  the  benefit  of  these,  a  correspondence 
school  was  established  and  directed  by  Mr. 
Sprague  who  did  excellent  work  for  a  few 
months,  but  he  was  obliged  to  return  to  the 
States  on  account  of  his  wife’s  health.  We 
had  no  one  in  the  field  who  had  the  time 
to  attend  to  this  work,  so  for  awhile  our 
young  men  took  the  course  of  studies  from 
Dr.  Rudd,  of  Porto  Rico,  but  the  mails  were 
so  irregular  that  a  continuance  of  this  was 
found  to  be  impracticable. 

“Two  years  ago  at  an  Associational  meet¬ 
ing,  a  course  of  study  was  arranged  and  text¬ 
books  assigned  to  the  young  men  who  were 
to  study  during  the  year  and  to  pass  exami¬ 
nations  at  the  Associational  meetings.  In  ad¬ 
dition  it  was  designed  to  hold  three  or  four 
weeks’  conference  for  study  and  the  oeep- 
ening  of  spiritual  life.  The  first  of  these 
conferences  was  held  at  Cristo  from  October 
5  to  28,  1909.  This  conference  was  attended 
by  practically  all  of  our  native  workers,  who- 
could  be  better  spared  from  their  work  at 
this  time  because  it  is  the  height  of  the  rainy 
season  and  little  could  be  done  on  '  their 
fields.  This  conference  (which  has  just 
closed)  marks,  in  my  judgment,  a  new  era 
in  the  history  of  our  Cuban  work.  Lessons, 
were  given  daily  in  Church  Government. 
Pastoral  Duties,  Baptist  Church  History,  and 
General  Church  History  and  Homiletics. 
The  afternoons  were  given  over  to  subjects 
of  special  interest  in  Roman  Catholic  coun¬ 
tries  and  to  the  deepening  of  spiritual  life. 
It  was  the  universal  opinion  of  all  the  teach¬ 
ers  and  pupils  that  nothing  that  has  ever  been 
done  in  Cuba  will  prove  of  more  lasting 
benefit  to  the  cause  than  these  conferences, 
and  it  is  planned  to  hold  such  a  conference 
at  least  once  a  year.” 

In  1909,  Dr.  Moseley  reported  that  the 
churches  are  paying  one-tenth  of  all  the 
salaries  of  native  pastors  and  workers  (in¬ 
cluding  Spanish  workers),  and  that  they  ex¬ 
pect  to  assume  fifteen  per  cent,  the  coming 
year.  Special  evangelistic  work  has  been 
done  by  groups  of  preachers  to  reanimate 
some  churches  and  to  awaken  fresh  interest 
among  the  people  generally. 

American  “master  builders”  will  be  re- 


28 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


REAR  ROW  (standing).  LEFT  TO  RIGHT:  M.  MONTEL,  A.  REINA,  R.  DELGADO,  M.  SAN  JOSE,  M.  SANTANA,  E.  W.  WATSON,  F. 

FRONT  ROW  (seated).  LEFT  TO  RIGHT:  J.  NOGAL,  F.  FRANCO,  J.  GONZALEZ  PEREZ, 


quired  in  this  field  for  many  years  to  come; 
gradually  responsibility  will  be  placed  upon 
the  native  leaders  as  they  are  able  to  assume 
it,  and  eventually  with  the  coming  on  of  a 
new  generation  which  shall  have  grown  up 
in  our  churches  and  schools,  our  denomina¬ 
tional  affairs  will  be  in  capable  Cuban  hands. 
The  process  of  compacting  and  construction 
is  going  on  well,  and  a  substantial  future 
for  our  cause  in  Cuba  seems  to  be  assured 
if  we  hold  steadily  to  our  task. 

The  general  policy  of  the  Society  in  the 


prosecution  of  its  work  in  eastern  Cuba,  has 
been  to  have  one  General  Missionary,  or 
Superintendent,  of  the  entire  field  and  to 
create  subdivisions  thereof  in  charge  of  Dis¬ 
trict  missionaries  who  have  immediate  direc¬ 
tion  of  affairs  at  their  central  stations  and 
numerous  outstations.  The  Superintendent 
now  makes  yearly  visits  to  the  Rooms  in 
New  York  for  conference  with  the  Society's 
representatives,  and  from  time  to  time  some 
representative  visits  the  field  for  conference 
with  the  workers. 


HISTORICAL  STATISTICS  OF  BAPTIST  CHURCHES  IN  EASTERN  CUBA 


OUT- 


LOCATION 

WORK  BEGUN 

CHURCH  ORGANIZED 

MEMBERS 

s.  s. 

STATIONS 

I 

Santiago 

Feb.  I, 

1899 

Jan.  12, 

1900 

245 

90 

2 

2 

Manzanillo 

Oct.  30, 

1899 

April, 

1900 

158 

42 

3 

3 

Yara 

Nov., 

1899 

J  uly  8, 

1907 

25 

20 

.  . 

4 

Minas 

Sept.  2, 

1901 

Mar.  2, 

1906 

]8 

25 

5 

El  Caney 

Mar., 

1901 

Mar., 

190Q 

19 

30 

6 

Camaguey 

June  17, 

1901 

Mar.  16, 

1902 

119 

65 

3 

7 

Boniato 

Nov.  I, 

1901 

?iiar.. 

1902 

30 

30 

8 

Nuevitas 

Sept., 

1901 

Nov.  9. 

1906 

18 

25 

9 

Guantanamo 

Oct., 

1901 

Feb.  22, 

1906 

43 

45 

2 

10 

El  Cristo 

May, 

1902 

Mar.  29, 

1903 

105 

150 

2 

II 

San  Luis 

May, 

1902 

Mar.  29. 

1903 

67 

60 

3 

12 

Dos  Caminos 

Nov.  I, 

1902 

Mar.  29, 

1903 

51 

50 

13 

]\Iedia  Luna 

Jan., 

1903 

Mar., 

1909 

7 

.  , 

14 

Songo 

May  I, 

1903 

Feb.  6, 

1904 

88 

28 

2 

TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


29 


.  MOLINA,  L.  MARTINEZ,  B.  G.  CASTELLON, 
TORY,  H.  R.  MOSELEY,  ROBERT  ROUTLEDGE, 

J.  BELDA,  D.  A. 
P.  DEULOFEU,  F. 

WILSON,  L. 
R.  PACHECO 

MOLINA,  R. 
J.  REYES 

G.  FERRER, 

J.  AYALA, 

J.  R.  0  HALLORAN 

15 

J  ibacoa 

Jan., 

1903 

May  23, 

1903 

38 

•  • 

16 

Ciego  de  Avila 

July, 

1903 

Jan.  24, 

1904 

13 

47 

2 

•  17 

Ti  Arriba 

Dec.  15, 

1903 

May  17, 

1905 

15 

18 

Bayanio 

Jan.  6, 

1904 

May  17, 

1905 

30 

38 

.  . 

19 

Baire 

Jan.  25, 

1904 

Apr., 

1905 

60 

40 

-  . 

20 

San  Miguel 

Mar., 

1904 

Apr., 

1906 

15 

.  . 

21 

Las  Tunas 

July  13, 

1904 

Nov., 

1904 

lOI 

40 

3 

•  22 

Canto 

July, 

1904 

May  15, 

1905 

20 

.  . 

•  • 

23 

Guisa 

Sept., 

1904 

Dec., 

1905 

7 

.  . 

24 

Jiguani 

Jan.  25, 

1904 

Dec., 

1905 

21 

20 

•  • 

25 

Guainiaro 

Mar., 

1904 

Apr., 

1905 

23 

26 

Palma  Soriano 

Feb., 

1905 

Dec.  9, 

1906 

25 

35 

3 

27 

Jatibonico 

Dec.  15, 

1905 

Feb., 

1907 

18 

15 

2 

28 

Ensenada 

Oct., 

1905 

Feb., 

1908 

32 

. . 

29 

Santa  Rita 

Sept., 

1906 

Dec.  26, 

1906 

31 

•  • 

30 

^lir 

Nov., 

1905 

]\lar.  20, 

1907 

32 

31 

Jarahueca 

Nov., 

1905 

Feb., 

1906 

50 

32 

Cuatro  Caminos 

Nov., 

I9U5 

Nov., 

1907 

26 

33 

Joturo 

Nov., 

1905 

Feb., 

1905 

13 

34 

La  Maya 

Nov., 

1905 

Mar.  14, 

1909 

7 

19 

35 

Maffo 

Feb., 

1908 

May, 

1908 

19 

36 

Juan  Baron 

Feb., 

1908 

Mar., 

1909 

7 

37 

Palmarito 

Mar., 

1905 

Feb.  17, 

1909 

15 

25 

I 

38 

:\Iarti 

Mar., 

1908 

May, 

1909 

9 

60 

2 

39 

Barajagua 

May, 

igo8 

iMar.  5, 

1909 

36 

20 

3 

40 

Baracoa 

Nov.  12, 

1908 

Jan., 

1909 

27 

45 

25 

41 

V'eguita 

Feb., 

1909 

Mar.  8, 

1909 

9 

25 

I 

42 

Caney  del  Sitio 

Dec., 

1908 

Dec.  I, 

I9C9 

17 

Clnirclies,  42;  outstations,  59.  1,629  1.089 


59 


30 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


VIEW  OF  SANTIAGO,  CUBA 


Chapter  VIII 

The  Future  of  Eastern  Cuba 


Our  mission  field  in  the  two  eastern 
provinces  of  Cuba  is  one  of  large  promise. 
Eastern  Cuba,  until  recently,  has  been  to  a 
large  extent  an  undeveloped  region.  Not 
until  the  latter  part  of  1903  were  railway 
connections  established  with  the  rest  of  the 
Island.  The  people  generally  were  aloof 
from  the  currents  of  modern  enterprises. 
Few  tourists  went  beyond  the  historic  city 
of  Santiago.  A  mighty  quickening  has  taken 
place  in  recent  years  under  the  new  order  of 
things,  and  with  the  incoming  of  foreign 
capital  for  the  development  of  the  country.. 

During  the  American  occupation,  sanitary 
conditions  of  the  chief  cities  were  greatly 
improved,  so  that  there  is  but  little  danger 
now  from  the  former  scourge  of  yellow  fever. 
Excellent  highways  were  constructed.  An 
example  of  good  government  was  furnished. 
Camagiiey,  noted  for  its  salubrity,  has  the 
finest  hotel  outside  of  Havana,  and  a  modern 
system  of  water-work=.  Santiago  has  a  new 

Note.- — To  avoid  confi;''-TT  iet  it  be  remembered 
that  the  two  eastern  Prc''‘''''cs  of  Cuba  formerly 
called  Santiago  and  Puerto  Principe,  are  now 
called  respectively  Oriente  and  Camagiiey 


custom  house  costing  a  quarter  of  a  million 
dollars,  and  the  completion  of  the  elegant 
building  of  the  National  Bank  of  Cuba  was 
celebrated  by  the  whole  city.  The  Cuba 
railroad  is  extending  its  lines  from  San  Luis 
on  the  East  to  Bayamo  and  Manzanillo,  right 
through  the  center  of  our  mission  fields  in 
that  part  of  the  island.  From  Marti  on  the 
west,  in  the  Province  of  Camagiiey,  an¬ 
other  line  is  being  constructed  eastward 
to  intersect  the  first  at  Bayamo,  making  new 
through  connections  with  Santiago.  It  has 
recently  built  a  large  depot  and  docks  at 
Santiago,  and  is  increasing  the  capacity  of 
its  warehouses  and  other  terminal  facilities 
at  Antilla,  on  the  Bay  of  Nipe. 

In  1899,  at  the  time  of  the  American  oc¬ 
cupancy,  there  were  1,135  miles  of  railway 
representing  an  investment  of  $58,000,000 ; 
nine-tenths  of  which  was  in  the  western  part 
of  the  Island.  The  eastern  provinces  had 
only  about  100  miles.  Since  then  nearly  or 
quite  500  miles  have  been  constructed  in 
eastern  Cuba  opening  to  settlement  and  pro¬ 
ductive  cultivation  from  twelve  to  fifteen 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


31 


million  acres,  or  nearly  one-half  the  area  of  the 
whole  Island.  Reference  to  the  map  will  show 
the  extent  of  recent  railroad  development. 

The  Spanish-American  Iron  Company  is 
spending  $5,000,000  for  the  development  of 
extensive  iron  ore  deposits  which  experts 
estimate  contain  1,800,000,000  tons  of  ore,  all 
in  the  Province  of  Santiago,  making  one  of 
the  most  important  discoveries  of  this  metal 
in  the  history  of  the  world.  Copper  and 
gold  mines  are  worked  profitably.  American 
capital  is  finding  profitable  investment  here 
and  American  colonies  are  becoming  com¬ 
mon.  “Oriente  Province,”  as  Santiago  is  now 
knowm,  during  the  past  year  has  shown  the 
greatest  gain  in  the  area  planted  to  sugar¬ 
cane,  and  is  a  close  second  in  production  to 
the  Province  of  Havana.  Because  of  its 
mountain  ranges,  diversified  agriculture  will 
obtain  more  largely  here  than  in  the  western 


portion.  Coffee  is  cultivated  in  the  hills ; 
great  herds  of  cattle  range  through  the  rank 
grass  of  the  lowlands ;  and  the  whole  region 
is  feeling  the  thrill  of  a  new  life.  The  superb 
harbor  of  Nipe  on  the  north  and  that  of 
Santiago  on  the  south,  we  may  well  believe 
were  providentially  prepared  for  the  greater 
future  of  eastern  Cuba,  which  will  soon  come 
into  close  relations  with  the  commercial  cur¬ 
rents  moving  to  and  fro  through  the  Pana¬ 
ma  Canal. 

These  provinces  with  an  area  of  23,000 
square  miles  which  now  contain  a  popula¬ 
tion  of  about  500,000  are  easily  capable  of 
supporting  four  millions.  This,  then,  is  no 
decadent  or  stagnant  land,  but  one  worth 
while  our  best  efforts  to  establish  quickly 
Christian  institutions  that  shall  help  make 
it  truly  great  and  which  in  turn  shall  share 
in  its  prosperity. 


CHURCH  EDIFICES 


LOCATION 

DEDICATED 

MATERIAL 

COST 

SEATING 

CAPACITY 

I 

Santiago 

May  6,  1900 

Composite 

$13,350.34 

Includes  lot 

50Q 

2 

Minas 

July,  1901 

Wood 

500.00 

(C  (i 

75 

3 

Manzanillo 

Dec.  14,  1902 

Brick 

3,991-72 

i(  (6 

300 

4 

Boniato 

Dec.  21,  1902 

Wood 

484.50 

Municipality 

75 

5 

San-  Luis 

Feb.  7,  1904 

i  i 

3  363-95 

Perpetual  lease 

40Q 

6 

El  Cristo 

Feb.  8,  1904 

1,731-52 

a  u 

250 

7 

Dos  Caminos 

Feb.  9,  1904 

1,995-45 

i(  <( 

250 

8 

Songo 

July  10,1904 

1,625.00 

((  (( 

200 

9 

Camagitey 

July  17,  1904 

Brick 

12,663.32 

Includes  lot 

500 

10 

Bayamo 

Aug.  27,  1905 

Wood 

4,563-85 

a 

400 

II 

Jibacoa 

Sept.  I,  1905 

416.52 

Lot  given 

lOQ 

12 

Las  Tunas 

Sept.  3,  1905 

H 

1-793-85 

Includes  lot 

200 

13 

Jatibonico 

Dec.  15,  1905 

i( 

500.00 

{(  1  ( 

100 

14 

Jiguani 

Dec,  26,  1905 

i  i 

2,018.20 

U  4i 

200 

15 

Baire 

Sept.  27,  1905 

ii 

2,007.40 

i( 

200 

16 

Mir 

Feb.  19,  1907 

u 

413-70 

Lot  given 

75 

17 

Jarahueca 

Mar.  24,  1907 

(i 

335-42 

a  i( 

75 

18 

Yara 

July  7, 1907 

i( 

442.02 

(i 

100 

19 

Canto  Embarcedero 

Oct.  16,  1907 

( ( 

713-51 

Includes  lot 

150 

20 

Caney 

Feb.  3,  1908 

( ( 

1,132.05 

U  U 

175 

21 

Ensenada 

Feb.  9,  1908 

500.00 

(More  than  half  paid 

100 

22 

El  Cristo 

Nov.  29,  1908 

Concrete 

8,100.00 

by  congregation) 
Includes  lot 

450 

^3 

Palma  Soriano 

Feb.  28,  1909 

Wood 

1,789.80  -f  $300  for  lot 

200 

24 

Santa  Rita 

Mar.  28,  1909 

(( 

1,438.42 

Municipality 

175 

25 

Veguitas 

IMar.  28,  1909 

(( 

1.366.87 

175 

26 

Guantanamo 

May  23,  1909 

Brick 

7,991-73 

and  $3,000  for  lot 

400 

27 

Baracoa 

]\Iar.  2,  1910 

Concrete 

5,000.00 

250 

28 

Ciego  de  Avila 

Apr.  24,  1910 

Brick 

4,500.00 

The  first  frame  structure  at  El  Cristo  was  subsequently  utilized  for  school  purposes, 


32 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


MISSIONARIES  AND  THEIR  PERIODS  OF  SERVICE 


NAME 

PERIOD  OF  SERVICE 

PRESENT  FIELD 

H.  R.  Moseley 

iSgq - 

El  Cristo 

James  T.  McGovern* 

1899-1899  ? 

Teofilo  Barocio* 

1899-1905 

M.  M.  Callejo* 

1899-1901 

A.  B.  Carlisle* 

1899-1901 

Miss  A.  M.  Barkley 

1900 - 

Santiago 

Miss  Eflie  Purdy 

1900 - 

Palma  Soriano 

Miss  Elma  G.  Gowen* 

1900-1906 

D.  A.  Wilson 

1901  - 

Camagiiey 

Pedro  Deulofeu 

1902 - 

San  Luis 

Jose  Ripoll* 

1902-1907 

Jose  Escandell 

1903 - 

Barajagua 

A.  E.  Story 

1903 - 

Santiago  District 

T.  H.  Sprague* 

1903-1906 

Pablo  Valdez 

1903 

Alajagua  and  vicinity 

L.  M.  Bravo 

1904 - 

Manzanillo 

W.  W.  Barnes* 

1904-1905 

Francisco  Gonzalez  Munozt 

1904-1907 

W.  W.  Hill* 

1904-1905 

J.  J.  Gonzales* 

1904-1906 

A.  B.  Howell 

1904 - 

Gauntanamo 

Vin cento  Tuzzio* 

1905-1906 

Jose  G.  Perez  t 

I905-I9IO 

Francisco  Llopiz* 

1905-1906 

Rafael  Delgado 

1905 - 

Palma  Soriano 

Miss  Mary  W.  Merriam 

1906 - 

El  Cristo 

Juan  Belda 

1906  - - 

Ciego  de  Avila 

Gonzales  Flores* 

1906-1908 

J.  R.  O’Halloran 

1906 

Marti 

Julio  Nogal 

1906  - - 

V^eguita  and  vicinity 

Miss  Ruth  Haynes 

1906 - 

Camagiiev 

Miss  Beulah  Boynton* 

1906-1907 

Miss  Alercedes  Grane 

1906 - 

Bayamo 

Miss  Elizabeth  Haney* 

1906-1907 

Miss  Maggie  Howell 

1906 - 

Guantanamo 

Miss  M.  M.  Goddard* 

1907-1909 

Joaquin  Antunez* 

1907-1909 

Francisco  Pais 

1907 - - 

Songo 

Gabriela  Jimenez 

1907 - 

San  Luis 

Fredrico  Franco 

1907  - - 

Santiago 

Mrs.  R.  E.  Porter* 

1907-1909 

A.  C.  Hageman* 

1908-1909 

Lusia  M.  Bravo 

1908 - 

El  Cristo 

A.  Blanco* 

1908-1908 

Juan  McCarthy 

1908 - 

Baracoa 

Ramon  Cadiz* 

1909-1909 

Franco  Risco  Pacheco 

1909 - 

La  Maya  and  vicinity 

Jose  Reyes 

1909 - 

Baracoa  and  vicinity 

Matias  San  Jose 

1906 - 

Nuevitas 

Manuel  Santana 

1909 - 

Guantanamo  and  vicinity 

Gonzalo  Castellon 

1909 - 

Lamaguev 

Julio  Zambrano 

1909 - 

Bayamo  and  vicinitv 

Rafael  G.  Ferrer 

Manuel  Lahens 

1909 - 

1909 - 

Baracoa  and  vicinitv 

i(  (( 

E.  W.  Watson 

1909 - 

Bayamo  and  vicinitv 

Enrique  Molina  Cardero 

1909 

<< 

Robert  Routledge 

1909 - 

El  Cristo 

Miss  Elizabeth  Richards 

1908 - 

Guantanamo 

Aliss  Luella  Williams* 

1907-1909 

klrs.  H.  R.  Aloseley 

1907 - 

El  Cristo 

Miss  Nora  Wilson 

1907 - 

a  a 

Pedro  Pons* 

1907-1910 

a  <( 

R.  E.  Porter* 

1908-1909 

a  (( 

David  Cole* 

I9OQ-I909 

a 

Felix  de  la  Torriente 

1909 - 

a  n 

Miss  E.  J.  Crooks 

1909 - 

a  li 

Aliss  Frances  Jackson 

1909 - 

a  (( 

Miss  Isabel  Waidman 

1909 - 

Santiago 

Rev.  bred  T.  Peters 

1909  - 

El  Cristo 

Theodore  Wilson 

1909 - - 

it  it 

*Not  now  in  service. 

IDeceased. 

TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


35 


BAPTIST  CHURCH  IN  SANTIAGO 


Narrative  of  Mission  Fields  in  Eastern  Cuba 


An  Abridgement  of  a  Valuable  Compilation  Made  by  Rev.  D.  A.  Wilson, 

Camaguey,  Cuba 


September,  1898,  tlie.Hcme  Mission  Board 
of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  sent 
Rev.  J.  R.  O’Halloran,  one  of  the  early 
Cuban  converts  in  Havana,  to  open  work 
in  the  city  of  Santiago.  In  four  months  one 
hundred  and  seventy-live  persons  were  bap¬ 
tized,  a  Sunday  School  gathered  with  nearly 
two  hundred  names  on  the  roll,  and  about  the 
same  number  in  a  day  school. 

February  i,  1899,  Dr.  H.  R.  Moseley,  ap¬ 


pointed  by  the  American  Baptist  Home  Mis¬ 
sion  Society,  arrived  in  Santiago,  and  Mr. 
O'Halloran  returned  to  Santa  Clara.  Rev. 
James  T.  iMcGovern,  missionary  of  the  Soci¬ 
ety  in  the  city  of  iMe.xico,  was  then  trans¬ 
ferred  to  Santiago.  In  reporting  the  result  of 
his  ‘observations  in  Cuba,  Dr.  iMoseley  wrote  : 
“We  had  the  house  full  at  every  service,  and 
after  we  had  enlarged  the  room  where  the 
meetings  were  held,  it  was  still  crowded.  All 


34 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


* 


classes  of  people  attend  the  services.  There 
is  absolutely  no  fanaticism  manifested  toward 
us.”  After  about  four  months,  Mr.  McGov¬ 
ern,  compelled  to  leave  because  of  sickness 
and  death  in  his  family,  was  succeeded  by 
Rev.  William  Spangler  for  a  short  period— 
greatly,  however,  to  the  detriment  of  our 
work  in  the  city. 

In  September  the  Board  transferred  Rev. 
Teofilo  Barocio,  a  Mexican,  from  San  Luis 
Potosi,  Mexico,  to  Santiago.  October  19, 
1899,  Dr.  Aloseley  and  Mr.  Barocio  with 
their  families,  and  Rev.  ]\I.  M.  Callejo  and 
familv,  who  had  joined  them  in  Havana,  ar¬ 
rived  in  Santiago;  Rev.  A.  B.  Carlisle,  of 
Texas,  also  appointed  in  September,  arrived 
somewhat  later.  Regular  services,  which  had 
been  interrupted,  were  resumed,  and  interest 
quickly  revived.  December  6,  Dr.  Moseley 
writing:  “Our  services  are  well  attended  and 
we  think  we  have  every  reason  to  feel  en¬ 
couraged.  I  have  been  struck  with  the  ab¬ 
sence  of  all  fanaticism ;  all  classes  seem 
friendly.  Romanism  here  seems  to  be  asleep. 
In  the  last  year  the  number  of  priests  in 
Santiago  has  been  reduced  from  forty  to 
thirteen.”  Their  pension  from  the  Spanish 
Government  ceased  with  the  new  order  of 
things  and  many  of  them  returned  to  Spain. 

About  this  time  a  very  desirable  property 
was  secured  on  a  corner  of  one  of  the  prin¬ 
cipal  streets  in  the  heart  of  the  city,  and 
quickly  converted  into  a  house  of  worship 
and  pastor’s  home.  The  mission  was  now 
manned  and  equipped  for  effective  work.  On 
the  I2th  of  January,  1900,  seventy  of  the 
former  members  responded  to  a  call  for  the 
reorganization  of  the  church.  To  these  were 
added  Dr.  and  Mrs.  iMoseley,  Mr.  and  ]\Irs. 
Barocio  and  Mr.  Carlisle,  and  the  church 
began  its  new  career  with  seventy-five  mem¬ 
bers.  Others  who  had  been  baptized  identi¬ 
fied  themselves  subsequentlv  with  the  new 
organization.  From  this  date  records  of  the 
church  begin.  It  was  voted  to  adopt  tne 
envelope  system  for  collection  of  funds  to 
aid  in  the  pastor’s  support.  At  the  April 
meeting  the  organization  of  the  church  was 
completed  by  the  election  of  officers,  and  the 
name  “The  First  Baptist  Church  of  San¬ 
tiago”  was  substituted  for  its  former  name, 
“Sinai.”  The  remodeled  building  was  dedi¬ 
cated  jMay  16,  1900,  when  five  were  baptized 
in  the  new  baptistry.  First  among  them  was 
Srta.  Gabriela  Jiminez,  who  afterward  took 


the  course  at  the  Missionary  Training  School 
in  Chicago  and  returned  as  missionary  of 
the  Woman’s  Society.  The  new  house  gave  a 
fresh  impetus  to  the  work.  Baptisms  were 
frequent.  In  September  a  Christian  En¬ 
deavor  Society  was  organized,  which  has 
continued  to  the  present  and  proven  a 
nursery  of  Christian  workers.  During  all 
these  months  of  the  new  year  a  vigorous 
campaign  was  carried  on  both  in  Santiago 
and  adjacent  towns. 

In  the  fall  of  1900  the  Mission  in  Santiago 
was  reinforced  by  the  coming  of  two  lady 
workers.  Miss  Anna  M.  Barkley,  of  the  Wom¬ 
en’s  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society,  Chicago ; 
and  Miss  Ehna  G.  Gowen,  of  the  Woman’s 
Americj\n  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society, 
Boston.  Miss  Gowen,  who  had  been  a  teach¬ 
er  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  where  she  had  ac¬ 
quired  a  command  of  Spanish  and  valuable 
experience  in  Mission  School  work,  opened 
a  school  in  the  annex  to  the  church  building 
which  soon  became  an  important  factor  in 
the  work  of  evangelization.  A  most  earnest 
and  efficient  co-laborer  in  every  line  of  Chris¬ 
tian  work,  she  also  did  much  to  instill  into 
the  minds  of  the  children  and  youth  a  whole¬ 
some  fear  of  the  evils  of  strong  drink.  After 
five  years’  service,  she  took  a  position  with 
the  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  to 
work  in  South  America. 

At  the  end  of  its  second  year  the  mis¬ 
sion  at  Santiago  had  a  church  membership 
of  more  than  100;  four  Sunday  Schools,  with 
an  enrollment  of  more  than  300 ;  a  day 
school;  a  live  Christian  Endeavor  Society; 
a  good  house  of  worship  and  a  working 
force  of  six,  including  the  wives  of  the  super¬ 
intendent  and  the  pastor. 

To  meet  the  charges  made  by  the  priests 
of  Cuba,  that  the  real  aim  of  our  mission¬ 
aries  was  to  bring  about  the  annexation  of 
Cuba  to  the  United  States,  the  Home  Mis¬ 
sion  Society  in  June,  1900,  sent  to  Super¬ 
intendent  iMoseley  an  official  denial  of  the 
charge,  with  a  request  that  it  l)e  translated 
and  published  in  the  papers  of  Santiago. 

The  year  1901  was  one  of  growth  at  San¬ 
tiago.  and  of  expansion  to  the  outlying  towns. 
Dr.  Moseley  wrote:  “The  success  of  the 
work  is  an  embarrassment  to  us.  New  doors 
are  being  opened  on  every  side — there  is 
work  in  Santiago  and  vicinity  for  three  men. 
M'e  have  now  seven  successful  Sunday 
Schools  in  Santiago  and  suburbs.  We  could 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


35 


THE  FORT  AT  EL  CANEY,  TAKEN  BY  ASSAULT  RY  AMERICAN  SOLDIERS 


have  twenty  if  we  had  workers  to  organize 
and  run  them.  Four  hundred  children  are 
receiving  Bible  instruction  in  our  Sunday 
Schools  ever}'  Sunday.”  Five  of  the  seven 
schools  were  the  direct  result  of  the  workers 
in  the  Christian  Endeavor  Society,  including, 
of  course,  the  pastor  and  lady  missionaries. 

Peculiar  difficulties  and  hindrances  char¬ 
acterized  the  year  1902.  At  the  end  of  1904 
the  church  had  a  membership  of  150,  and 
besides  paying  running  expenses  was  con¬ 
tributing  $150  a  year  toward  the  support  of 
its  pastor. 

Pastor  Barocio  returned  to  his  native  land 
January,  1905,  and  became  pastor  of  the 
First  Baptist  Church  hr  the  city  of  IMexico. 
During  the  five  years  of  his  pastorate  the 
church  enjoyed  peace,  and  was  characterized 
by  steady  and  healthy  growth  and  much  mis¬ 
sionary  activity.  Many  of  our  native  Cuban 
workers  were  converted  and  trained  in  the 
Santiago  church.  Much  of  the  progress  at 
all  times  was  no  doubt  due,  under  God,  to 
Dr.  Moseley's  wise  direction  and  to  his  abil¬ 
ity  to  organize  and  push  forward  the  work. 

From  January,  1905,  to  September,  1907, 
the  church  was  under  the  pastoral  care  of 
Rev.  Jose  Ripoll,  who  had  been  previously 
pastor  at  iManzanillo. 

There  was  considerable  increase  in  the 
membership  by  baptism,  and  in  the  matter 
of  self-support  the  church  continued  to  do 
well. 


The  1st  of  October,  1907,  Rev.  Francisco 
Pais  arrived  from  Spain  and  became  pastor 
at  Santiago.  Mr.  Pais  has  had  many  years’ 
experience  in  preaching  to  the  people  of  his 
native  Spain.  He  is  a  consecrated  Chris¬ 
tian,  an  industrious  pastor,  and  a  very  good 
preacher.  His  daughter  is  a  valuable  as¬ 
sistant  in  the  work.  Santiago,  the  mother 
church,  is  still  the  strongest  numerically  in 
eastern  Cuba  and  is  gradually  moving  on 
toward  self-support. 

El  Caney 

One  of  the  first  places  to  receive  attention 
from  the  workers  at  Santiago  was  the  his¬ 
toric  village  of  El  Caney,  seven  kilometers 
to  the  northeast  of  Santiago.  The  place  will 
be  remembered  by  Americans  as  the  scene  of 
Gen.  Lawton’s  operations  during  the  battle 
of  San  Juan  Ridge,  July  i,  1898,  which  re¬ 
sulted  in  the  occupation  of  Santiago  on  the 
17th  of  the  same  month.  The  first  service 
here  was  in  the  early  part  of  1901,  by  i\Ir. 
Barocio.  Crowds  attended  the  meetings.  In 
May  Miss  Barkley  went  to  live  in  El  Caney 
and  work  among  the  women  and  children  un¬ 
til  the  school  in  Santiago  should  reopen  in 
the  fall.  Miss  Mercedes  Grane,  a  convert 
from  Santiago,  was  her  companion  and  help¬ 
er.  Aliss  Barkley  says:  “It  was  little  I  could 
do  in  those  days  to  help  along  the  work,  ex¬ 
cept,  perhaps,  to  shake  hands  and  smile.” 
Her  hearty  handshake  and  the  cheery  smile 


36 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


were  large  factors  in  winning  her  way  to  the 
many  hearts  and  homes  where  to-day  she  is 
so  strongly  entrenched. 

The  first  Saturday  in  El  Caney  she  began 
a  sewing  class,  and  a  week  later  a  Sunday 
School.  Her  command  of  Spanish  not  being 
yet  sufiicient  to  enable  her  to  do  any  very 
extensive  and  thorough  teaching  she  had 
recourse  to  a  wall-roll  and  to  a  blackboard 
on  which  were  written  Scripture  texts  in  both 
Spanish  and  English,  which  the  pupils  were 
asked  to  memorize.  She  soon  got  a  strong 
hold  on  the  people,  especially  the  children 
and  young  women.  When  school  opened  in 
Santiago  in  October,  she  rented  a  room  in 
that  city ;  from  Monday  morning  to  Friday 
evening  assisted  in  the  school,  and  went  to 
El  Caney  on  Friday  evening  to  the  preach¬ 
ing  service,  and  to  her  sewing  class  on 
Saturday  and  her  Sunday  School  on  Sunday, 
returning  Monday  morning  to  Santiago.  One 
traveling  at  present  in  a  comfortable  guagua 
over  the  macadam  road  from  Santiago  to 
El  Caney  can  have  little  idea  what  it  meant 
in  those  days  to  make  the  trip  twice  a  week 
in  a  Cuban  carretilla,  in  all  sorts  of  weather, 
and  with  no  roads,  sometimes  at  night,  with 
only  a  native  driver.  In  the  spring  of  1902 
IMiss  Barkley  wrote :  “For  ten  months  the 
work  has  been  going  on  steadily,  and  now 
there  are  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  names 
on  the  roll,  and  I  have  been  between  eighty 
and  ninety  in  my  classes  when  there  is  no 
heavy  storm.  The  preaching  services  are  full 
to  overflowing.” 

The  people  of  El  Caney  while  attending 
the  meetings  in  large  numbers,  have  been 
slow  to  embrace  the  Gospel  openly  and  iden¬ 
tify  themselves  with  the  church.  The  pastor, 
Mr.  Pais,  hopes  soon  to  organize  ten  or 
twelve  members  into  a  church.  A  neat 
chapel,  with  a  seating  capacity  of  about  two 
hundred,  was  dedicated  February  3,  1908,  in 
the  presence  of  a  throng  which  the  house 
could  not  contain. 

Boniato 

About  November  i,  1901,  Dr.  IMoseley  re¬ 
moved  from  Santiago  to  the  more  salubrious 
little  country  village  of  Boniato,  five  miles 
north.  IMrs.  Moseley,  always  alive  to  every  op¬ 
portunity  to  do  the  iMaster’s  work,  cultivated 
acquaintance  with  her  new  neighbors  and 
read  the  Gospel  to  them,  none  of  whom  had 
a  Bible.  Her  invitation  to  attend  a  Sunday 
School  at  her  home  was  responded  to  by 


many  out  of  curiosity,  for  they  never  heard 
of  such  a  thing.  The  school  has  been  car¬ 
ried  on  uninterruptedly  and  with  encourag¬ 
ing  results  to  the  present  time.  The  mission¬ 
aries  attended  services  in  Santiago  in  the 
morning,  and  held  the  Boniato  school  in  the 
afternoon,  followed  by  a  Monday  night 
preaching  service,  which  was  well  attended. 

Mr.  Pastorizzo,  who  has  been  for  years 
a  faithful  member  of  the  Boniato  church, 
when  he  first  heard  the  Moseleys  read  the 
Bible  recognized  it  as  the  same  book  he  had 
heard  read  when  a  boy  in  an  English  con¬ 
sul’s  home  in  South  America.  “Cast  thy 
bread  upon  the  waters,  for  thou  shalt  find 
it  after  many  days.” 

In  September,  1902,  upon  the  request  of 
Dr.  Moseley  and  the  little  church  of  thirty 
members,  the  Home  Mission  Society  appro¬ 
priated  $400,  the  church  giving  $100  with 
great  enthusiasm,  for  the  erection  of  a  small 
chapel,  which  was  dedicated  December  21, 
1902,  Rev.  D.  A.  Wilson,  of  Camaguey, 
preaching  the  dedication  sermon,  and  Rev. 
Dr.  Hazelwood,  of  Boston,  District  Secre¬ 
tary  of  the  Society,  being  present. 

Dr.  Moseley,  after  his  removal  to  Dos 
Bocas,  continued  to  serve  the  church  at  Boni¬ 
ato  until  he  went  to  El  Cristo  in  1904.  Mrs. 
Moseley  has  worked  in  the  Boniato  Sunday 
School  uninterruptedly  and  most  efficiently 
since  it  was  begun  in  1901,  for  several  years 
as  its  director. 

El  Cristo 

Special  interest  centers  in  the  little  town 
of  El  Cristo  because  here  are  our  schools 
which  promise  so  much  for  the  Christian 
education  of  Cuba.  Situated  among  the  beau¬ 
tiful  and  salubrious  hills,  ten  miles  nearly 
north  of  the  city  of  Santiago,  it  marks  the 
highest  point  along  the  main  line  of  the 
Cuba  Company  Railway. 

Work  "here  was  begun  early  in  1902  by 
Pedro  Deulofeit  and  Vincente  Tuzzio,  two 
young  men  from  the  Santiago  church  work¬ 
ing  as  colporteurs  of  the  American  Baptist 
Publication  Society  under  the  supervision  of 
Dr.  Moseley  who,  with  IMrs.  IMoseley,  soon 
gave  special  attention  to  this  field.  The  Sun¬ 
day  School  and  preaching  services  were  held 
in  a  rented  house. '  When  IMiss  Barkley  re¬ 
turned  from  the  United  States  in  November, 
1902,  she  made  her  residence  at  El  Cristo  in¬ 
stead  of  resuming  school  work  in  Santiago. 
A  few  months  later  she  wrote ;  “This  is  what 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


37 


PANORAMIC  VIEW,  LOOKING  FROM  DR.  MOSELEY's  PIAZZA 


I  have  been  doing  since  my  return  to  Cuba. 
Sunday  morning  I  go  by  train  from  El  Cristo 
to  San  Luis  and  help  in  the  Sunday  School 
that  is  waiting  for  me.  In  the  afternoon  by 
train  to  Dos  Caminos  for  another  Sunday 
School,  and  return  to  San  Luis  for  the  night. 
Monday  morning  house  to  house  visiting  in 
San  Luis,  a  large  class  of  children  for  the 
afternoon,  and  help  at  the  services  at  night, 
when  Mr.  Barocio  comes  to  preach.  Tuesday 
is  spent  visiting  with  a  class  of  young  women 
in  Dos  Caminos.  leaving  in  the  afternoon  in 
time  to  reach  El  Cristo  for  a  class  of  young 
women  at  night.  Wednesday,  visiting  in 
El  Cristo;  a  class  of  children  in  the  afternoon, 
and  helping  in  the  service  at  night.  Thurs¬ 
day  is  for  visiting  and  extra  work.  Eriday, 
very  early  off  for  Santiago  by  train,  then  by 
cart  to  El  Caney,  where  we  have  a  preaching 
service.  Saturday  morning  my  Bible  and 
sewing  class,  then  back  to  Santiago  and 
El  Cristo  to  be  ready  for  San  Luis  on  Sunday. 

Early  in  1903  seven  persons  Avere  bap¬ 
tized  at  El  Cristo  by  Mr.  Barocio,  of  San¬ 
tiago.  A  church  was  organized  March  29. 
In  1903  a  neat  frame  chapel,  seating  about 
two  hundred,  was  erected,  and  during  Dr. 
Morehouse’s  visit  to  Cuba  was  dedicated, 
February  8,  1904.  This  proved  a  great  stimu¬ 
lus  to  the  work.  Rev.  A.  B.  Howell,  under 
appointment  by  the  Society,  arrived  in  June 
and  took  charge  of  the  work  at  El  Cristo, 
San  Luis  and  Dos  Caminos.  In  October  Dr. 
Moseley  moved  from  Dos  Bocas  to  his  pres¬ 
ent  residence  in  El  Cristo. 

In  January,  1905,  Mr.  Howell  wrote:  “My 
field  now  includes  seven  stations,  with  more 
to  be  opened  soon.  Thus  far  I  have  bap¬ 
tized  twenty-one.  At  some  of  the  places 
candidates  are  waiting,  and  others  since  the 
meetings  closed  have  asked  for  baptism.  At 


Ti  Arriba  I  baptized  eight  out  of  fifteen  can¬ 
didates  ;  I  e.xpect  to  go  up  there  to-morrow 
and  baptize  again.  At  Songo  and  San  Luis 
candidates  are  waiting;  at  Joturo  and  En¬ 
senada  one  hundred  and  fifty  people  have 
asked  to  be  received  into  the  church.  I  have 
set  January  8  for  baptisms  at  these  places, 
but  cannot  say  just  how  many  will  receive 
the  ordinance.  Perhaps  I  may  be  too  care¬ 
ful  in  this  matter,  but  I  am  anxious  to  re¬ 
ceive  into  the  church  only  those  who  can  be 
depended  upon.  I  have  been  for  a  week  at 
a  time  without  being  able  to  take  off  my 
clothes,  sleeping  in  my  hammock  and  eating 
food  swimming  in  grease,  but  the  Lord  has 
kept  me  in  health.” 

During  Dr.  Moseley’s  visit  to  the  States, 
that  summer,  in  the  interest  of  the  new 
school,  Mr.  Howell,  in  addition  to  his  mis¬ 
sionary  tours,  was  Acting-Superintendent  of 
the  Mission.  After  Dr.  Moseley’s  return  the 
church  elected  a  secretary,  treasurer  and 
deacons,  took  up  the  matter  of  regular  epntri- 
butions  for  self-support,  and  ]\Ir.  V.  A.  Tuz- 
zio,  one  of  the  earliest  workers  at  this  place, 
became  its  pastor  for  a  while.  Although 
from  November,  1906,  to  September,  1907, 
Rev.  J.  R.  O'Halloran  rendered  some  pas¬ 
toral  service  here,  in  connection  with  his 
work  at  San  Luis  and  other  places,  the 
preaching  still  devolved  largely  upon  Dr. 
Mosele}',  Mrs.  iMoseley  directing  the  Sunday 
School.  On  the  opening  of  the  schools  in 
September,  1907,  Rev.  A.  L.  Story  became 
pastor.  The  chapel  being  too  small  and  too 
far  from  the  schools  for  students  convenient¬ 
ly  to  attend  service,  it  was  moved  to  the 
school  grounds  and  converted  into  a  dining 
hall  for  the  students.  For  more  than 
a  year  services  had  to  be  held  in  the 
chapel  of  the  girls’  building  at  the  schools. 


38 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


somewhat  to  the  detriment  of  the  church. 

For  the  new  church  edifice  a  choice  lot 
was  secured  on  the  principal  street  near 
the  school  buildings,  and  the  house  was  dedi¬ 
cated  November  29,  1908.  It  is  of  cement 
blocks,  plain  but  handsome,  and  well  adapted 
to  the  work  of  the  church,  seating  about 
three  hundred  people.  During  the  past  two 
years  Pastor  Story  has  baptized  a  goodly 
number  of  students  who  have  professed  faith 
in  Jesus  while  attending  school. 

There  is  no  more  important  position  to  be 
filled  in  all  our  work  in  Cuba  than  the  pas¬ 
torate  of  the  Cristo  church,  with  its  oppor¬ 
tunity  to  mould  the  character  and  shape  the 
lives  of  the  young  men  and  women  who  year 
by  year  attend  these  schools. 

San  Luis 

San  Luis  is  an  important  and  growing 
town  on  the  main  line  of  the  Cuba  Company 
Railroad,  twenty  miles  from  Santiago,  at 
the  junction  of  the  Cuba  Eastern  Railway, 
which  runs  thence  to  Guantanamo,  and  of  the 
Bayamo  and  Manzanillo  line  of  the  Cuba 
Railway.  Though  it  has  a  populatiop  of 
five  thousand  there  is  no  Catholic  church 
building  in  the  place. 

In  May,  J902,  Colporteur  Pedro  Deulofeu 
began  work  there,  and  in  September  Pastor 
Barocio,  of  Santiago,  began  preaching  serv¬ 
ices  in  a  rented  house;  in  November  a  Sun¬ 
day  School  was  started  and  regular  Sunday 
evening  services  maintained ;  in  December 
Miss  Barkley  extended  her  work  to  San 
Luis,  assisting  in  the  Sunday  School  and  the 
night  services.  It  was  in  this  month  that 
Dr.  F.  T.  Hazlewood,  of  Boston,  visited 
Cuba  and  reported  the  large  throngs  at¬ 
tending  our  services. 

On  February  21,  1903,  Pastor  Barocio  bap¬ 
tized  the  first  candidates,  eighteen  in  num¬ 
ber,  and  on  March  3  five  others.  The 
church  was  organized  March  29,  1903, 

adopted  the  envelope  system  of  collections 
for  current  expenses,  and  in  December  voted 
to  pay  $20  a  year  toward  the  work  of  the 
Home  Mission  Society.  It  has  maintained 
an  excellent  record  in  these  respects. 

The  new  chapel  was  dedicated  February  7, 
1904,  Rev.  J.  V.  Cova,  pastor  of  the  Baptist 
church  in  Mantanzas,  preaching  the  sermon, 
Dr.  H.  L.  Morehouse,  of  New  York,  being 
present  and  participating  in  the  exercises. 
In  July,  1904,  Rev.  A.  B.  Howell,  who  had  re¬ 
cently  arrived  from  the  United  States,  took 


charge  of  the  work.  At  the  end  of  that 
year  the  church  had  forty-six ■  members,  a 
good  Sunday  School  and  a  Christian  En¬ 
deavor  Society,  and  had  collected  and  ex¬ 
pended  $80  during  the  previous  year.  In 
February,  1905,  Mr.  Francisco  Llopiz  became 
assistant  to  Mr.  Howell,  Mr.  Deulofeu  going 
to  Bayamo.  After  Mr.  Howell’s  return  to 
the  States  in  the  fall,  Air.  V.  A.  Tuzzio  be¬ 
came  pastor,  in  April,  1906,  remaining  until 
October,  baptizing  twenty-two  persons.  From 
December  i,  1906,  to  March  5,  1908,  Rev. 
J.  R.  O’Halloran  served  as  pastor.  During 
these  fifteen  months,  besides  paying  running 
expenses  and  contributing  to  the  support  of 
the  pastor  and  of  a  Cuban  missionary,  the 
church  made  needed  improvements  to  the 
property.  Its  spiritual  progress,  however, 
was  retarded  by  some  dissensions.  Since 
Alarch,  1908,  Mr.  Deulofeu  has  been  pastor; 
congregations  are  good,  though  additions 
to  the  church  have  been  few.  Mr.  Deulofeu 
has  several  outstations  in  the  vicinity,  visit¬ 
ing  regularly  Palmarito,  San  Nicholas  and 
Santa  Maria. 

Palmarito 

Palmarito  is  on  the  railroad,  eleven  miles 
northwest  from  San  Luis.  The  town  site  is 
on  the  property  of  a  Swedish-American  com¬ 
pany,  who  have  built  a  fine  hotel  and  are 
developing  the  country,  and  to  some  extent 
the  town.  On  February  17,  1909,  Brother 
Deulofeu  organized  a  church  there  with  thir¬ 
teen  members. 

Miss  Rosario  Tuzzio,  a  teacher  in  the 
public  school,  who  rendered  valuable  service 
in  the  church  at  Baire  for  several  years,  lives 
at  present  at  Palmarito,  and  has  a  flourish¬ 
ing  little  Sunday  School,  besides  assisting 
in  the  work  in  other  ways. 

Santa  Maria 

At  Santa  Alaria  several  believers  have  re¬ 
cently  been  baptized,  and  we  shall  soon  have 
a  church  there,  also. 

Dos  Caminos 

Dos  Caminos  is  a  town  of  about  two  thou¬ 
sand  people  on  the  Cuba  Company  Railway, 
sixteen  miles  from  Santiago  and  four  miles 
from  Sail  Luis.  Gospel  work  was  regularly 
o]jened  here  November  i,  1902,  by  Brother 
Jose  R.  Escandell.  From  the  outset  congre¬ 
gations  filled  the  little  rented  room  to  over¬ 
flowing  and  listened  to  the  Word  with  re¬ 
markable  interest.  Only  three  months  later. 


TEX  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


39 


January  28,  1903,  Pastor  Barocio,  of  San¬ 
tiago,  baptized  twenty-five  persons,  eight 
others  the  next  month,  and  on  Alarch  29  the 
church  was  constituted  with  twenty-two 
members  present — eleven  male  and  eleven  fe¬ 
male,  and  eleven  others  absent  who  had  signi¬ 
fied  a  desire  to  form  a  part  of  the  church. 

Brother  Barocio  was  recognized  as  pastor, 
and  Brother  Escandell  was  sent  on  IMay  i  to 
open  a  new  work  at  Songo.  The  Dos  Cam- 
inos  church  has  usually  been  served  by  the 
same  pastors  who  preach  at  San  Luis, 
Brethren  Deulofeu,  Howell,  Llopiz,  Tuzzio 
and  O’Halloran. 

From  the  opening  of  the  work  in  the  fall 
of  1902  up  to  February,  1909,  Hiss  Anna  H. 
Barkley  has  been  one  of  the  chief  factors  in 
the  work  at  Dos  Caminos.  IMuch  of  the 
time  she  has  carried  on  single  handed  and 
alone  a  Sunday  School,  which  was  always 
well  attended.  The  people  believe  in  her, 
and  love  her,  and  were  quite  disconsolate 
when  she  was  transferred  to  Santiago. 

The  Stephen  Drummond  Memorial  Chapel 
at  Dos  Caminos  was  built  by  the  Baptists  of 
Washington,  Pa.  It  is  a  neat  house,  with 
a  seating  capacity  of  two  hundred.  It  was 
dedicated  February  9,  1904;  Rev.  D.  A.  Wil¬ 
son,  of  Camaguey,  preaching  the  sermon. 
Dr.  IMorehouse  was  present  and  spoke  for  the 
Home  Mission  Society. 

Songo 

A  very  remarkable  awakening  occurred  at 
Alto  Songo  in  1903.  Songo  is  veritably  a 
city  set  on  a  hill,  with  charming  views  in 
every  direction.  It  is  on  the  railway,  seven 
miles  east  from  FI  Cristo.  May  i,  1903, 
Brother  J.  R.  Fscandell  went  from  Dos 
Caminos  to  Songo,  rented  a  small  gtiano 
roofed  house,  in  which  he  lived  and  held 
services.  At  the  first  meeting  the  house  was 
full  and  many  listening  in  the  street.  In 
three  weeks  he  had  the  names  of  fifty-five 
persons  who  promised  to  attend  Sunday 
School.  A  better  house  was  soon  secured 
where  he  continued  to  preach  to  large  and 
enthusiastic  crowds  during  the  remainder  of 
the  year,  as  well  as  at  several  outstatioiis. 
In  January,  1904.  he  was  assisted  by  Dr. 
Moseley  and  Mr.  Barocio  in  special  meetings 
for  several  days,  and  on  February  6,  twenty- 
six  converts  were  baptized  in  the  beautiful 
little  stream  two  miles  north  of  the  town. 
Dr.  Morehouse,  who  was  present  on  this 
occasion,  wrote  ;  “It  was  a  most  picturesque 


SONGO 


scene.  The  overhanging  tropical  foliage,  the 
rocky,  vine-clad  side  of  the  stream,  the  white 
tent  pitched  in  the  foreground ;  the  dark 
water  in  contrast  with  the  white  apparel  of 
many  of  the  candidates,  were  all  suggestive 
of  the  multitude  that  went  from  Galilee  to 
be  baptized  of  John  in  the  Jordan.  Among 
the  number  were  two  of  the  Mayor’s  daugh¬ 
ters,  and  a  leading  merchant  of  the  town. 
The  strength  and  extent  of  this  religious 
awakening  in  the  community  appears  still 
further  in  the  fact  that  since  then  (this  was. 
written  in  May)  twenty-two  others  have 
been  baptized.”  One  of  the  Mayor’s  daugh¬ 
ters  who  was  baptized  that  day,  after  spend¬ 
ing  a  year  at  our  school  at  FI  Cristo,  is  now 
at  the  Training  School  in  Chicago.  Dr. 
Morehouse  was  much  impressed  by  the  great 
work  accomplished  in  so  short  a  time,  and 
with  the  immediate  need  of  a  suitable  house 
of  worship.  On  the  same  day  he  and  Dr. 
Moseley  began  negotiations  for  the  purchase 
of  a  lot ;  the  chapel  was  begun  the  following 
April,  and  was  dedicated  amid  great  enthu¬ 
siasm,  July  10,  1904.  Mr.  Ripoll,  of  Man¬ 
zanillo,  preached  the  sermon.  Dr.  Moseley, 
Mr.  Story  and  Mr.  Barocio  also  taking  part 
in  the  exercises.  This  is  one  of  the  neatest 
and  best  built  chapels  on  the  field,  with  a 
seating  capacity  for  200  people.  Immedi¬ 
ately  after  the  dedication,  Dir.  Howell  and 
Mr.  Story  held  meetings  for  several  days, 
and  at  the  close  Dir.  Howell  baptized  four¬ 
teen  persons. 

Dir.  Fscandell  then  went  to  Las  Tunas, 
having  labored  in  Songo  for  fourteen  months, 
leaving  a  church  of  more  than  fifty  members, 
including  some  of  the  substantial  people  of 
the  town.  For  about  a  year  afterwards  the 


40 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


church  had  no  resident  pastor,  but  Rev.  A. 
B.  Howell  who  lived  at  El  Cristo  frequently 
visited  and  preached  there,  the  church  being 
strengthened  by  his  ministry.  In  September, 
1905,  Mr.  V.  A.  Tuzzio  who  had  just  re¬ 
turned  from  the  United  States  where  he 
spent  two  years  at  Benedict  College,  South 
Carolina,  became  pastor  at  Songo,  Baptisms 
were  quite  frequent,  and  some  really  good 
material  was  added  to  the  membership.  Be¬ 
sides  paying  current  expenses  the  church 
contributed  to  the  pastor’s  support,  to  the 
Associated  missionary,  bore  the  expense  of 
a  delegate  to  the  Association,  and  secured  a 
bell  by  popular  subscription.  Mr.  Tuzzio 
remained  at  Songo  about  seven  months,  go¬ 
ing  thence  to  San  Luis. 

Early  in  July,  1906,  Rev.  A.  Gonzales 
Flores,  late  of  South  America,  was  appointed 
to  Songo,  remaining  about  a  year,  after  which 
for  most  of  another  year  the  church  was 
under  the  general  care,  of  Mr.  Howell.  In 
the  spring  of  1908,  Mr.  Fredrico  Franco,  of 
the  Santiago  church,  became  pastor  at  Songo 
and  is  still  in  charge. 

Songo  is  not  very  prosperous  at  present, 
and  the  church  has  suffered  in  consequence. 
Of  the  seventy-five  members  hardly  more 
than  half  are  residents.  Although  congre¬ 
gations  are  not  so  large  and  enthusiastic  as 
formerly,  there  is  a  good  working  church 
and  Sunday  School,  and  Pastor  Franco  is 
busy  and  hopeful.  Miss  Barkley  has  been  a 
most  efficient  co-worker  with  the  pastors  at 
Songo,  and  here,  as  at  San  Luis  and  Dos 
Caminos,  by  her  tireless  energy,  her  fine 
common  sense  and  her  genial  and  soulful 
manner  has  done  much  both  to  attract  un¬ 
believers  to  the  way  of  truth,  and  to  build 
up  believers  in  the  knowledge  of  God,  and 
sometimes  even  in  keeping  the  pastor  him¬ 
self  on  a  straight  line ! 

Lying  to  the  east  and  northeast  of  Songo  arc 
the  towns  of  La  Maya,  Ti  Arriba,  Jarahueca, 
Joturo,  Ensenada,  and  Cuatro  Caminos. 
Tbe  region  is  one  of  the  most  picturesque 
in  eastern  Cuba.  The  chief  industry  of  this 
mountainous  district  is  coffee  raising,  though 
considerable  attention  is  also  paid  to  the 
production  of  tobacco,  cacao,  or  the  choco¬ 
late  bean,  and  fine  hard  woods  abound. 
Early  in  November,  1905,  these  six  towns 
became  the  circuit  on  horseback  of  mis¬ 
sionary  Escandell.  They  kept  him  busy 
seven  days  in  the  week.  Distances  between 


some  of  these  places  are  very  considerable, 
and  the  roads,  when  it  I'ains,  often  become 
impassable.  But  the  hardships  of  the  mis¬ 
sionary  were  greatly  lightened  by  the  readi¬ 
ness  with  which  most  of  the  towns  received 
the  Gospel. 

Ti  Arriba 

]\Ir.  Escandell  had  visited  this  town 
while  still  living  at  Songo  in  1903 ;  later 
it  was  visited  by  others  from  Songo,  and 
in  1905  it  became  part  of  his  regular  field. 
As  the  people  of  Ti  Arriba  did  not  em¬ 
brace  the  Gospel  so  readily  as  some  others, 
Mr.  Escandell  resorted  to  a  novel  method  of 
awakening  their  interest.  In  the  latter  part 
of  1907  he  organized  a  Baptist  excursion  in 
the  little  village  of  Cuatro  Caminos  where  he 
lived,  and  went  on  foot  to  Ti  Arriba.  The 
leaders  of  the  procession  bore  two  banners, 
of  light  blue,  on  one  of  which  was  printed 
in  gilt  letters  “Baptist  Church  of  Ti  Arriba,” 
and  on  the  other  the  words  “God  is  love.” 
The  friends  in  Ti  Arriba  were  apprised  of 
their  coming,  and  went  out  in  a  body  to  meet 
them  and  received  the  banners  which  were 


ENSENADA 


presented  to  them  in  the  name  of  the  church 
at  Cuatro  Caminos.  The  Cuatro  Caminos 
brethren  then  canvassed  the  town,  inviting 
people  to  the  meeting,  with  the  result  that 
at  night  the  missionary  had  a  congregation 
that  filled  the  house  and  the  adjacent  street. 
The  first  candidates  were  baptized  by  Rev. 
A.  B,  Howell. 

Ensenada 

In  January,  1906,  less  than  four  months 
after  the  work  had  been  begun  at  En- 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


41 


seiiada,  eighteen  were  baptized  by  Rev.  AI.  L. 
Brown  who  was  once  in  the  school  work  of 
the  Home  ^Mission  Society  in  the  Indian 
Territory,  and  who  had  been  invited  by  Mis¬ 
sionary  Escandell  to  come  over  from  Cristo 
and  baptize  the  converts.  Others  followed 
later.  A  lot  was  given  by  Senor  Cardero, 
a  friend  of  the  cause  in  Ensenada,  a  chapel 
was  erected  which  was  dedicated  in  Feb¬ 
ruary,  1908,  Dr.  George  Sale,  a  representa¬ 
tive  of  .the  Home  ^Mission  Society  and  other 
members  of  the  Baptist  Excursion  to  Cuba, 
attending  the  exercises. 

Jarahueca 

In  February,  1906,  49  candidates  were 
baptized  at  one  time  in  Jarahueca  by 
Rev.  M.  L.  Brown,  to  whom  reference  has 
just  been  made.  The  church  now  numbers 
more  than  fifty,  and  is  worshipping  in  its 
own  chapel  which  was  dedicated  March  24, 
1907,  the  members  of  the  congregation 
taking  an  important  part  in  the  exercises 
by  readings  and  recitations. 

Cuatro  Caminos,  Joturo,  La  Maya 

These  places  are  eastward  from  Songo. 
At  Cuatro  Caminos  and  Joturo  there  are 
small  churches.  La  Maya  has  responded 
slowly,  but  there  are  several  persons  living 
here  who  have  been  baptized  elsewhere. 
We  have  a  good  Sunday  School  and  a  con¬ 
siderable  constituency  who  attend  the  meet¬ 
ings.  March  24,  1909,  a  church  was  or¬ 
ganized  and  five  candidates  received  for 
baptism. 

These  village  congregations  are  at  present 
under  the  general  care  of  missionary  A.  B. 
Howell,  of  Guantanamo,  but  are  visited 
weekly  when  practicable  by  Brother  Franco, 
of  Songo,  and  Brother  Francisco  Pacheco, 
of  La  Maya. 

Palma  Soriano 

Palma  Soriano  is  a  rapidly  growing 
town  of  between  two  and  three  thou¬ 
sand,  lying  on  the  banks  of  the  upper 
Cauto  about  fifteen  miles  west  of  San  Luis, 
and  is  the  present  terminus  of  the  Cuba 
Company’s  projected  line  to  Bayamo  and 
Manzanillo,  connecting  with  the  main  line 
at  San  Luis.  The  first  missionary  here  was 
Miss  Effie  Purdy  of  the  Women’s  Baptist 
Home  Mission  Society  (Chicago),  and  one 
of  the  earliest  missionaries  to  eastern  Cuba. 
Leaving  Bayamo  where  she  had  labored  in 


connection  with  Rev.  A.  L.  Story,  she  went  to 
Palma  Soriano  the  latter  part  of  February, 
1905,  remaining  several  months  alone,  visit¬ 
ing  the  people  in  their  homes  and  reading  to 
them  the  Gospel.  In  November,  Mr.  Escan¬ 
dell  began  to  make  periodical  visits  from  El 
Cristo  to  Palma,  preaching  to  good  audi¬ 
ences.  Later  Mr.  Francisco  Llopiz  and  Pas¬ 
tor  Tuzzio  from  San  Luis  preached  there 
frequently.  On  August  22,  1906,  Rev.  J.  R. 
O’Halloran  and  his  assistant  at  San  Luis  held 
meetings  for  several  days,  and  a  number  of 
people  expressed  a  desire  to  be  baptized. 
December  9th  of  the  same  year  Dr.  Moseley 
and  IMr.  O’Halloran  held  a  week’s  meeting 
and  at  the  close  Mr.  O’Halloran  baptized 
thirteen  candidates,  and  with  these.  Miss 
Purdy  and  one  other,  the  church  was  or¬ 
ganized.  Mr.  Rafael  Delgado  became  pas¬ 
tor;  Miss  Purdy  continued  her  work  in  the 
Sunday  Schools,  having  also  an  industrial 
class.  In  IMarch,  1907,  Air.  Delgado  reported 
an  average  attendance  of  about  seventy,  many 
of  whom  stood  outside  at  the  open  door  and 
window's  for  lack  of  seating  accommodations, 
w’ithin.  The  contracted  rented  quarters  w'Cre 
unfavorable  to  rapid  progress.  Air.  O’Hal¬ 
loran  visited  Palma  occasionally  through 
1907,  and  several  w'ere  baptized. 

The  little  church  now  rejoices  in  the  com¬ 
forts  of  their  beautiful  new  chapel,  which 
was  dedicated  February  28,  1909.  The  dedi¬ 
cation  was  a  great  occasion  in  Palma.  Dr. 
and  Airs.  Aloseley  attended,  accompanied  by 
Airs.  Aloseley’s  w'ell-trained  choir  of  young 
people  from  the  schools  at  El  Cristo.  The 
dedication  sermon  w'as  preached  by  Rev.  H. 
B.  Someillan,  the  Cuban  Evangelist. 

Like  other  missionaries.  Brother  Delgado 
spreads  himself  out  thin  (the  name  Delgado 
means  thin)  over  the  region  round  about. 
At  La  Concepcion,  w’here  he  has  preached 
since  early  in  1907,  the  owmer  of  the  land 
has  offered  to  give  a  site  for  a  chapel.  .At 
Caney  del  Sitio,  wdiere  he  began  in  April  of 
the  same  year,  meetings  are  w'ell  attended 
and  several  have  been  baptized. 

Juan  Baron 

At  this  place,  twelve  miles  west  of  Palma- 
Soriano,  there  is  a  very  interesting  w’ork. 
The  people  live  in  their  humble,  thatch- 
roofed  cottages  scattered  through  the  hills 
over  an  area  of  several  miles.  Services 
are  held  as  frequently  as  elsewhere, 
in  the  house  of  one  of  the  familier?. 


42 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


VIEW  OF  MANZANILLO 


friendly  to  us.  Brother  Delgado,  now  in 
charge  of  this  field,  made  his  first  trip  to 
Juan  Baron  in  February,  1908.  When  the 
preacher  arrives  in  the  neighborhood  after 
his  twelve-mile  horseback  ride  from  Palma 
Soriano,  a  conch  was  sounded  loud  and 
long  to  notify  the  people  of  preaching  serv¬ 
ices  at  night. 

It  is  a  joy  to  preach  to  these  country  peo¬ 
ple.  Quite  a  number  have  been  baptized,  and 
•cl  church  organized.  They  need  a  small 
chapel,  which  could  be  built  for  a  few  hun¬ 
dred  dollars.  A  member  of  the  congrega¬ 
tion  will  give  the  site. 

Manzanillo  District,  1890-1909 

Manzanillo  was  the  second  important  city 
to  be  occupied.  A  seaport  on  the  south  coast, 
it  is  the  second  city  in  size  in  the  Province  of 
Oriente,  and  the  third  in  size  of  all  the  field 
of  the  Home  Mission  Society  in  Cuba,  popu¬ 
lation  between  fifteen  and  twenty  thousand. 

Rev.  M,  M.  Callejo,  of  western  Cuba,  who 
joined  Dr.  Moseley,  in  Havana,  on  his  re¬ 
turn  to  Santiago  in  October,  1899,  after 
spending  a  few  weeks  in  Santiago,  arrived 
in  Manzanillo  October  30.  At  first  he  en¬ 
countered  some  petty  persecution  from  the 
Romanists,  but  soon  got  a  good  hearing. 
Particulars  about  the  progress  of  the  work 
here  for  the  first  seven  years  are  lacking,  the 
church  records  for  this  period  having  been 
lost.  As  Mr.  Callejo  remembers,  it  was 
about  five  months  before  he  baptized  the  first 
believers.  Among  those  fifteen  was  Mr. 
Mr.  Francisco  Llopiz,  who  afterward  became 
a  valuable  worker.  Mr.  Callejo  remained 
until  September,  1901,  and  during  these 
twenty-three  months  about  fift\'  people  were 
baptized,  not  all.  however,  from  the  city. 
After  his  return  to  western  Cuba  the  church 


was  without  a  regular  pastor  for  about  a 
year.  Mr.  Francisco  Llopiz  conducted  serv¬ 
ices,  with  an  occasional  visit  from  Dr.  Alose- 
ley  or  Pastor  Barocio  from  Santiago. 

In  January,  1902,  through  Dr.  A.  S.  Coats, 
then  touring  in  the  Old  World,  Dr.  Mor¬ 
gan,  secretary  of  the  Home  Mission  Society, 
learned  of  Mr.  Jose  Ripoll,  who  was  labor¬ 
ing  among  the  Spanish-speaking  residents  of 
Algiers,  North  Africa.  He  was  appointed  by 
the  Board  in  May  and  arrived  in  IManzanillo 
in  August.  This  young  Spaniard  had  not 
been  long  converted  from  Romanism,  had 
suffered  considerable  persecution  for  the 
faith  from  members  of  his  own  family;  he 
was  }-oung,  hopeful,  full  of  enthusiasm,  and, 
moreover,  had  seen  realized  his  desire  to 
come  to  Cuba  for  larger  service  and  oppor¬ 
tunity. 

The  cause  in  IManzanillo  at  once  received 
a  new  impulse.  Crowds  attended  the  preach¬ 
ing,  and  many  applied  for  baptism.  The 
Home  IMission  Society  made  appropriations 
for  the  purchase  of  a  lot  and  the  erection  of 
a  chapel  under  Dr.  iMoseley's  supervision. 
The  chapel,  seating  250  persons,  was  dedi- 
cate4  amid  great  enthusiasm  December  14, 
1902,  Dr.  IMoseley  preaching  in  the  fore¬ 
noon  and  Rev.  J.  G.  Chastain,  from  Mexico, 
at  night.  During  these  inauguration  services 
Mr.  Ripoll  was  regularly  ordained  to  the 
Gospel  ministry.  At  the  same  time  a  Chris¬ 
tian  Endeavor  Society  was  organized  with 
no  members  which  soon  grew  to  200. 

Early  in  1903  a  day  school  was  opened, 
and  was  so  well  patronized  that  the  fees 
from  tuition  nearly  paid  expenses.  Work 
was  pushed  also  in  several  of  the  towns  of 
the  district.  It  was  a  busy  year  for  the  mis¬ 
sionary,  and  a  prosperous  year  for  the  church. 

Dr.  IMorehouse,  who  visited  Manzanillo  in 
February,  1904,  wrote  of  conditions  at  the 
opening  of  this  r'ear :  “The  night  of  our  ar¬ 
rival  in  Manzanillo,  the  Christian  Endeavor 
Society  of  the  Baptist  Church  had  its  meet¬ 
ing,  which  was  attended  by  a  fine  congre¬ 
gation  of  about  140  persons.  Four  young 
men  and  two  young  women  read  original 
papers  and  made  addresses,  and  a  boy  and  a 
girl  had  an  interesting  dialogue  on  Ro¬ 
manism.  Everything  was  admirably  done. 
There  is  some  very  promising  material  in  the 
young  people  of  this  church.  The  church  at 
Manzanillo  was  organized  in  December, 
1899,  and  has  at  present  about  ninety  mem¬ 
bers.  It  has  three  mission  stations.  Mr. 


TEN  YEARS  IN  C  U  P.  A 


43 


s 


girls’  class  in  calisthenics,  el  cristo  school 


Ripoll  has  five  other  places  which  he  visits 
monthly  so  far  as  possible.” 

Early  in  this  year  Niss  Georgia  Hilt,  an 
appointee  of  the  Woman’s  Society  of  the 
West,  went  to  Alanzanillo,  and  during  her 
brief  stay  made  a  good  beginning  with  an 
industrial  class.  IMr.  A.  V.  Tuzzio,  who  had 
been  a  valuable  assistant  in  IManzanillo  and 
vicinity  since  November,  1902,  went  in  Sep¬ 
tember,  1904.  to  attend  school  in  the  LTnited 
States,  being  succeeded  by  Mr.  Rafael  Del¬ 
gado.  iMr.  Ripoll  was  transferred  to  San¬ 
tiago  in  January,  1905,  and  Rev.  Francisco 
Gonzalez  who  had  arrived  from  Spain  the 
previous  November,  took  charge  of  the  work 
in  Manzanillo  District,  with  Mr.  Delgado  as 
assistant.  IMr.  Gonzalez  was  an  earnest  and 
consecrated  preacher,  greatly  beloved  by  all 
the  missionaries  and  by  his  people.  For 
about  a  year  and  a  half  he  continued  the 
work  both  in  the  city  and  in  the  towns, 
doing  a  large  amount  of  horseback  riding, 
over  roads  often  almost  impassable.  On 
June  2.  returning  from  one  of  his  appoint¬ 
ments.  he  was  drowned  in  the  Yara  River. 
Dr.  Moseley  wrote  to  the  Society;  “Brother 
Gonzalez  was  one  of  our  most  spiritual  and 
experienced  pastors,  and  his  removal  is  a 
serious  loss  to  our  work.”  The  brethren 
and  friends  in  Manzanillo  contributed  $150 
toward  a  fund  raised  by  our  Cuban  paper. 


El  Mcnsajcro ,  for  the  widow  and  orphans 
of  Brother  Gonzalez. 

Brother  Julio  Nogal,  who  came  from  Spain 
in  December,  1905,  and  had  been  assistant 
at  iManzanillo  for  about  five  months,  was 
temporarily  put  in  charge  of  the  work. 

In  April.  1905,  the  Society  had  appointed 
Rev.  Juan  Belda  of  Spain  to  work  in  Cuba. 
Mr.  Belda  was  converted  through  the  min¬ 
istry  of  Mr.  Gonzalez  in  Spain,  and  came 
to  Cuba  to  be  associated  with  him  in  the 
work.  Instead  of  going  to  the  Nipe  Bay 
District  as  originally  planned.  IMr,  Belda 
was  sent  to  Manzanillo,  arriving  there  July 
14,  1906. 

In  December  IMiss  Beulah  Boynton  and 
Miss  IMercedes  Grane,  graduates  of  the 
Training  School  in  Chicago,  were  appointed 
by  the  Women’s  Baptist  Home  Mission  So¬ 
ciety  (Chicago)  to  Manzanillo.  Miss  Boyn¬ 
ton,  on  account  of  a  severe  illness,  was  com¬ 
pelled  to  leave  in  August,  1908,  and  in  Sep¬ 
tember  Miss  Grane  was  transferred  to 
Bayamo. 

Mr.  Belda  encounters  strong  and  persis¬ 
tent  opposition  from  the  nuns,  who  go  from 
house  to  house  trying  to  undo  what  he  has 
done,  and  otherwise  to  hinder  the  progress 
of  our  work.  However,  fourteen  new  mem¬ 
bers  have  been  added  by  baptism  since  his 
coming. 


44 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


Yara 

About  twenty  miles  east  of  ^Manzanillo  is 
the  old  town  of  Yara.  It  was  once  an  im¬ 
portant  place,  but  has  been  destroyed  two  or 
three  times  by  Revolutionists,  and  at  present 
contains  only  two  or  three  hundred  poor 
houses,  and  has  little  business  life.  It  be¬ 
came  famous  by  at  least  two  notable  events 
in  the  history  of  Cuba.  In  the  large  open 
square  of  the  town  the  visitor  is  shown  a 
tamarind  tree  which  was  planted  on  the  sup¬ 
posed  spot  where  the  Spaniards  in  the  early 
years  of  the  sixteenth  century,  during  the 
first  attempt  to  colonize  Cuba,  burned  at 
the  stake  the  native  Chief  Hathuey  who, 
more  successfully  than  any  other,  had  re¬ 
sisted  the  barbarous  treatment  to  which  his 
people  were  being  subjected.  It  was  at  Yara 
also  that  Carlos  Manuel  Cespedes,  on  the 
loth  of  October,  1868,  proclaimed  the  Inde¬ 
pendence  of  Cuba. 

Soon  after  the  opening  of  the  work  in 
Manzanillo,  November,  1899,  Mr.  Jose  R. 
Escandell,  who  had  been  a  sea  captain,  was 
received  on  his  statement  that  he  had  been 
baptized  in  Spain.  Directly  after  he  went  to 
Yara  as  teacher  of  a  small  school,  and  at 
once  began  to  hold  religious  services.  In 
February  jMr.  Callejo  baptized  eighteen  peo¬ 
ple  in  Yara,  as  the  result  of  Mr.  Escandell's 
preaching.  The  work  has  been  continued 
ever  since,  wdth  more  or  less  interruption, 
through  the  labors  of  the  successive  pastors 
at  Manzanillo.  A  chapel  was  built  by  the 
gift  of  Mr.  M.  C.  Treat,  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  was  dedicated  July  7,  1907.  The  next 
day  seven  were  baptized,  and  the  church  was 
regularly  organized. 

Jibacoa 

Jibacoa  is  a  country  neighborhood,  about 
twelve  miles  east  of  Alanzanillo.  Work  was 
begun  here  the  latter  part  of  1902  or  early 
in  1903.  Mr.  Ripoll  writing  May  23,  1903, 
says :  “Forty-eight  have  offered  themselves 
as  candidates,  and  to-day  fourteen  have  been 
baptized.”  Presumably  these  were  the  first 
baptisms.  In  April  fifteen  others  were  bap¬ 
tized.  A  small  chapel  was  built,  and  dedi¬ 
cated  September  i,  1905,  I\Ir.  Story,  of 
Bayamo,  preaching  the  sermon.  The  lot  was 
given  by  Don  Miguel  Remon,  and  other 
members  of  the  church  and  its  friends  con¬ 
tributed  nearly  half  the  cost  of  the  house. 
The  country  churches  in  Cuba  have  taken 


the  lead  in  helping  to  build  their  own  meet¬ 
ing  houses.  The  church  has  grown  steadily 
in  numbers  and  liberality.  Recently  a  can¬ 
didate  for  baptism  walked  six  miles.  He 
was  baptized  by  Brother  Belda  by  the  dim 
light  of  candles  held  by  the  people  standing 
on  the  banks  of  the  stream  near  the  town. 
The  wife  of  Don  Miguel  Remon  has  at¬ 
tended  three  of  the  five  sessions  of  the  Cuba 
Eastern  Association,  riding  on  horseback 
each  trip  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles. 

Campechuela,  Media  Luna,  Ceiba  Hueca 
and  Niquero,  towns  of  from  a  few  hundred 
to  a  few  thousand  each,  lie  along  the  coast 
to  the  south  of  Manzanillo.  They  are  sup¬ 
ported  mainly  by  the  sugar  plantations  of  that 
section.  Brother  Ripoll  began  the  work  in 
these  towns  in  1902  and  1903,  preaching  as 
often  as  was  practicable,  and  usually  to  large 
audiences.  In  October,  1904,  Brother  Barocio 
visited  this  field  and  held  meetings  for  sev¬ 
eral  days  at  each  place,  often  preaching  to 
more  than  200  people.  At  Niquero  twelve 
persons  were  baptized  during  these  meetings. 
Had  there  been  laborers  enough  to  properly 
cultivate  this  promising  field  we  should 
probably  now  have  churches  established  at 
most  if  not  all  of  these  points. 

Veguita 

One  of  the  newest  works  in  the  district  is 
at  Veguita,  where  Brother  Nogal  lives.  It 
is  a  new  town  of  good  promise  in  the  midst 
of  a  fine  country.  In  February,  1909,  Rev. 
H.  B.  Someillan  held  meetings  there  when 
twenty-six  persons  confessed  Christ.  On 
IMarch  8',  Pastor  Belda  baptized  nine  of 
these  and  organized  them  into  a  church.  A 
neat  frame  chapel  has  since  been  erected,  and 
several  others  added  to  the  membership  of 
the  church. 

District  of  Camagiiey,  1901-1909 

The  third  center  of  importance  to  be  occu¬ 
pied  by  our  Society  was  the  city  of  Puerto 
Principe,  at  present  called  Camagiiey. 
Puerto  Principe  (Port  of  the  Prince)  was 
originally  a  seaport  town  on  the  northwest, 
but  because  of  the  depredations  of  pirates 
was  removed,  about  1530,  to  a  large  interior 
village  called  Camagiiey,  the  site  of  the 
present  city,  while  the  old  name  was  re¬ 
tained.  The  native  name  of  Camagiiey  was 
preferred  by  the  Cubans,  in  the  new  order 
of  things,  and  it  was  so  designated  officially 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


45 


OUR  MODEL  CHURCH  IN  CAMAGUEY,  NEAR  CENTER  OF  CITY 


in  1903.  The  city  is  on  the  main  line  of  the 
Cuba  Company  railway,  near  the  center  of 
the  province,  has  a  population  of  about 
30,000,  and  is  also  connected  by  rail  with  the 
port  of  Nucvitas,  forty-five  miles  to  the 
northeast. 

This  is  conceded  to  be  the  most  Catholic 
city  in  eastern  Cuba,  perhaps  in  the  Island. 
It  has  fourteen  Catholic  churches,  while 
IManzanillo,  about  half  its  size,  has  but  one. 

In  April,  1901,  Rev.  D.  A.  Wilson,  who 
had  labored  as  a  missionary  in  Mexico  for 
nearly  fifteen  years,  was  appointed  by  the 
Home  Mission  Society  to  this  field,  and  ar¬ 
rived  in  Camagiiey  June  17.  ^liss  Effie 
Purdy  of  the  Women’s  Baptist  Home  Mis¬ 
sion  Society  (Chicago)  had  preceded  him 
by  a  few  months,  but  being  unfamiliar  with 
the  language,  was  able  to  do  but  little  effec¬ 
tive  work.  Xo  Gospel  work  had  been  done 
in  this  province  by  any  denomination. 

Mr.  Wilson  had  the  good  fortune  to  secure 
a  very  good  hall  centrally  located,  and  on 
June  30  held  the  first  service.  The  people 
of  this  conservative.  Catholic  city  were  not 
easily  moved.  Congregations  were  good 
however,  sometimes  exceeding  one  hundred. 
The  boys  were  often  disorderly,  greatly  dis¬ 
turbing  the  services  which  were  held  at  first 
three  times  a  week,  besides  a  song  practice. 

On  August  II  a  Sunday  School  was  be¬ 


gun  with  an  enrollment  of  twenty-six,  and 
the  next  Sunday  forty.  During  the  summer 
and  fall  good  service  was  done  in  Camagiiey 
and  the  surrounding  towns  by  two  colpor¬ 
teurs,  Mr.  Alamo,  a  native  of  Puerto  Rico, 
and  Air.  Bateson,  who  had  served  in  the 
American  army. 

In  September  a  weeklv  service  was  begun 
in  the  State  prison  and  continued  for  about 
a  year.  In  October  tw'o  missions  were  es¬ 
tablished  in  private  houses  in  different  wards 
of  the  city,  and  a  service  in  English  w'as  also 
held  for  the  American  residents  and  the 
soldiers  from  Camp  AIcKinzy.  Attendance  at 
the  chapel  during  1901  averaged  about  forty 
at  Sunday  School,  and  from  si.xty  to  seventy- 
five  at  evening  service.  The  year  closed, 
however,  without  any  baptisms,  but  with  a 
good  interest  at  all  the  preaching  places. 

At  first  there  was  very  little  real  opposition 
from  the  Catholics.  Most  of  the  people  were 
simply  indift'erent  to  all  religion  and  unwill¬ 
ing  to  accept  a  spiritual  Gospel. 

Early  in  1902  the  forces  of  evil  broke  loose. 
Romanists  sowed  the  city  with  a  leaflet  filled 
with  the  most  slanderous  reports  about 
Protestants  and  Protestantism.  Boys  threw 
stones  into  the  hall  during  services.  The 
adherents  of  Spiritism  became  very  aggres¬ 
sive.  Nevertheless,  the  leaven  of  the  Gospel 
was  working. 


46 


TEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


Alarch  i6,  1902,  the  people  had  an  oppor¬ 
tunity  for  the  first  time  of  witnessing  a  bap¬ 
tism  in  apostolic  form.  Seven  converts  were 
baptized,  who,  with  five  others,  became  the 
charter  members  of  the  Camagiiey  Baptist 
Church.  With  the  exception  of  one  who  has 
passed  to  his  reward,  the  seven  are  still  faith¬ 
ful  members  of  this  church.  By  the  end  of 
the  year  the  church  numbered  tw'enty-five. 

The  Christmas  tree  and  accompanying  ex¬ 
ercises  on  the  24th  of  December  was  a  nov¬ 
elty,  and  attracted  a  large  company  of 
Cubans  and  some  Americans.  The  visit  of 
the  genial  Dr.  F.  T.  Hazelwood,  Home  Mis¬ 
sion  District  Secretary  for  New  England, 
was  a  delight  to  the  missionaries.  In  I\Iay, 
1903,  a  fine  corner  lot  was  purchased  in  the 
very  heart  of  the  city,  for  a  little  less  than 
$3,000,  American  currency,  as  a  site  for  the 
new  house  of  worship. 

About  this  time  IMiss  Purdy,  after  more 
than  two  3'ears’  service,  left  for  a  vacation 
in  the  United  States,  and  on  her  return  to 
Cuba  went  to  the  new  mission  in  Bayamo. 
In  December,  1903,  Rev.  Thomas  H.  Sprague, 
who  had  been  appointed  to  the  Nipe  Bay 
District,  came  to  Camagitey  where  he  re¬ 
mained  until  Julv,  1904,  accpiiring  a  knowl¬ 
edge  of  the  Spanish  language  and  preaching 
to  an  American  congregation  by  whom  he 
was  much  appreciated. 

Also  in  December,  1903,  Miss  IMary  W. 
Merriam,  of  Chicago,  arrived  under  appoint¬ 
ment  by  the  Women’s  Baptist  Home  Mission 
Society.  She  has  been  a  wise  and  untiring 
worker  both  in  Camaguey  and  in  Las  IMinas. 
The  new  workers  brought  fresh  inspiration 
to  those  who  were  becoming  weary  with  the 
toil  and  the  strife.  Attendance  at  the  Sun¬ 
day  School  and  preaching  services  increased. 

On  January  4,  1904,  ground  was  broken 
for  the  new  house  of  worship,  for  the  erec¬ 
tion  of  which  the  Society  made  a  large  ap¬ 
propriation.  In  February  the  missionaries 
were  cheered  by  a  visit  from  Dr.  iMorehouse 
and  Dr.  iMoseley,  who,  on  Washington’s 
Birthday,  took  part  in  the  placing  of  a  mar¬ 
ble  slab  in  the  wall  of  the  new  building, 
bearing  the  name  of  the  church  and  the  date 
of  erection. 

The  formal  opening  of  the  new  house  on 
July  17th  was  a  great  event  in  the  history 
of  the  church,  and  was  regarded  with  curious 
interest  by  the  community  at  large.  The 
morning  service  for  the  children  was  at¬ 
tended  by  upwards  of  350  persons.  Nine 


ministers  were  present.  At  10.30  Rev.  T.  H. 
Sprague  preached  to  a  congregation  of  about 
one  hundred  English-speaking  people.  At 
the  evening  service  the  people,  estimated  at 
500,  crowded  the  house  to  hear  the  dedica¬ 
tion  sermon  b_v  Rev.  J.  V.  Cova,  of  Alan- 
tanzas. 

The  value  to  our  work  of  a  suitable  house 
of  worship  was  at  once  manifest.  Mr.  Wil¬ 
son  soon  reported  a  morning  attendance  of 
about  125,  and  from  200  to  300  at  night,  and 
four  or  five  times  as  main-  at  the  midweek 
meetings  as  previously  in  the  rented  house. 
Within  a  month  and  a  half  after  the  dedica¬ 
tion,  twenty  had  been  baptized.  The  harvest 
from  three  years’  sowing  was  being  reaped. 
In  IMarch,  1905,  Mr.  J.  J.  Gonzales  was  trans¬ 
ferred  from  .Nuevitas  to  Camagiiey  as  an 
assistant  to  Mr.  Wilson,  having  special 
charge  of  a  mission  in  another  section  of  the 
cifiv.  Miss  iMerriam's  Industrial  Class,  be¬ 
gun  in  June,  was  a  means  of  bringing  many 
children  and  girls  under  religious  intluenqe. 

The  latter  part  of  1905  witnessed  several 
changes  in  the  working  force  at  Camaguey. 
In  October,  Mr.  Wilson,  greatly  needing 
relief  from  the  strain  of  the  work  in 
Camaguey,  and  also  in  the  hope  of  putting 
the  mission  at  Nuevitas  on  a  firmer  basis, 
with  the  consent  of  the  Society  moved  tem¬ 
porarily  to  Nuevitas,  and  iMr.  Sprague  re¬ 
turned  from  Gibara  to  Camaguey.  When 
Mr.  Sprague  resigned  and  returned  to  the 
United  States  a  few  months  later,  Mr.  Mar¬ 
tinez  Bravo  was  transferred  from  Gibara  to 
Camagiiey  in  January,  1906,  as  pastor  of  the 
church. 

The  year  1906  was  one  of  much  activity 
and  growth  at  Camaguey.  Week-night  meet¬ 
ings  were  held  in  many  parts  of  the  city  in 
the  houses  of  members  and  friends  of  the 
congregation,  and  hundreds  heard  the  Gospel 
preached  for  the  first  time,  many  of  wdiom 
afterw'ards  became  members.  The  church  is 
at  present  the  second  largest  Baptist  Church 
in  eastern  Cuba,  and  is  at  the  front  in  the 
matter  of  self-support,  d'o  Miss  Merriam's 
patient  and  painstaking  efforts  has  been  due 
very  largely  the  growth  of  systematic  giving 
in  this  church.  Her  Bible  class  work  at  the 
church  or  in  homes  where  classes  are  gath¬ 
ered  has  been  of  great  value.  She  has  also 
had  two  teacher-training  classes  and  two 
industrial  classes  each  w'eek,  and  has  done  a 
.a'reat  deal  of  visiting  in  the  interests  of  the 
Sunday  School  and  the  Church. 


r  E  N  YEARS  IN  CUB  A 


47- 


THE  MISSION  AT  MINAS 


Las  Minas 

This  town  is  on  the  Camaguey  and  Xue- 
vitas  railroad  about  half  way  between  the 
two  places,  and  has  some  2,000  inhabitants. 
The  hrst  Gospel  sermon  here  was  preached 
in  June,  1901,  by  Dr.  Moseley.  Work  was 
regularly  opened  however,  by  Mr.  Wilson, 
September  2.  At  the  first  service  an  im¬ 
mense  crowd  gathered,  more  than  filling  the 
clubhouse  which  had  been  secured  for  the 
purpose.  A  house  was  rented,  and  the  at¬ 
tendance  was  usually  large.  The  disorderly 
conduct  of  the  youths,  many  of  whom  came 
to  the  services,  has  been  difficult  to  over¬ 
come. 

In  July,  1901,  the  Society  purchased  a 
house  and  lot  for  the  Alission.  It  is  now 
quite  dilapidated,  and  a  chapel  is  urgently 
needed. 

In  March,  1905,  while  Mr.  J.  J.  Gonzales 
had  charge,  assisted  by  Rev.  Jose  Ripoll  of 
Santiago,  in  special  meetings,  Mr.  Gonzales 
baptized  eight  candidates  as  the  first  fruits 
of  this  mission. 

The  Catholic  Church  building  had  been  in 
ruins  since  the  war  of  1895,  priests  visiting 
Minas  only  occasionally,  to  baptize  the  babies, 
but  giving  no  religious  instruction.  In  1908 
a  Catholic  Mission  was  inaugurated  by  a 
zealous  priest  whose  denunciation  of  Prot¬ 
estants  effected  a  lessened  attendance  at  our 
services,  and  mainly  through  the  generosity 
of  a  wealthy  lady  in  Spain  a  new  Catholic 
Church  edifice  was  built.  But  by  the  diligent 
work  of  the  Baptist  pastor  and  Miss  Mer- 
riam,  the  congregation  has  about  resumed 
its  former  proportions,  and  the  Wednesday 
morning  “Sunday  School”  is  better  than 
before. 

The  church  was  formally  organized  March, 
1906,  with  nine  members  present.  Several 
have  since  been  added  by  baptism. 


Three  good  women  have  borne  an  impor¬ 
tant  part  in  the  work  at  Minas.  From  August,. 

1903,  to  April,  1904  Miss  Alta  Smelser,  for¬ 
merly  a  missionary  of  the  Southern  Baptist 
Convention  in  Alexico,  lived  at  Minas,  and 
by  her  consecrated  life  and  her  earnest  work 
in  the  Sunday  School  and  from  house  to 
house,  did  much  good  without  receiving 
any  regular  remuneration.  In  February, 

1904,  Mrs.  E.  D.  Triggs,  of  Arkansas,  came 
of  her  own  accord  and  entirely  at  her  own 
expense,  and  for  nearly  two  years,  in  spite 
of  her  very  limited  knowledge  of  Spanish, 
did  good  service  teaching  the  young  people 
of  Minas.  For  several  years  Miss  IMerriam 
has  devoted  much  time  to  this  town,  and  has. 
done  and  is  doing  invaluable  service  in  train¬ 
ing  the  young  people  in  Bible  knowledge. 

Nuevitas 

Nuevitas  is  a  seaport  of  some  6,000  people, 
forty-five  miles  by  rail  to  the  northeast  of 
Camagiiey.  It  has  a  fine  harbor  and  is. 
prettily  situated  on  the  hills  overlooking  the 
broad  and  beautiful  bay.  Most  of  the  mer¬ 
chandise  for  the  city  of  Camaguey  enters, 
through  this  port. 

In  September,  1901,  Rev.  D.  A.  Wilson,  of 
Camaguey,  held  the  fir.st  service  in  X’uevitas, 
preaching  in  the  house  of  a  poor  widow  who 
kindly  lent  her  small  room  to  the  stranger. 
The  room  was  full  and  many  listening  on  the 
outside.  On  the  second  night  the  house  was 
so  full  of  children  that  most  of  the  grown 
people  remained  in  the  street.  A  large  roonr 
was  then  rented,  and  at  the  second  visit  a 
month  later  in  company  with  Mr.  Bateson, 
the  colporteur,  nearly  a  hundred  people  gath¬ 
ered,  sitting  on  benches  improvised  out  of 
rough  boards.  On  this  trip  they  disposed  of 
about  thirty  copies  of  the  New  Testament 
and  a  hundred  of  the  Gospels.  IMr.  Wilson, 


48 


1'  E  N  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


being  alone,  could  make  only  monthly  trips 
to  Nnevitas.  EarE  1903  tke  railroad  put 
on  daily  instead  of  tri-weekly  trains,  and 
visits  were  then  usually  made  twice  a  month 
until  September  of  that  year. 

Though  meetings  were  well  attended,  the 
interest  awakened  at  one  visit  largeh"  disap¬ 
peared  before  the  next  a  month  afterward. 
Though  there  were  some  converts  who  have 
remained  faithful,  opposition  of  their  kin¬ 
dred  was  so  strong  that  their  l^aptism  was 
deferred.  In  October,  1903,  Rev.  J.  J.  Gon¬ 
zales,  from  western  Cuba,  took  charge  of  the 
work  in  Nnevitas,  and  remained  until  Feb¬ 
ruary,  1905,  preaching  also  at  Minas  and 
San  Miguel.  But  little  was  accomplished. 
For  eight  months  after  his  transfer  to  Cama- 


MEETING  HOUSE  AT  SAN  MIGUEL 


giiey,  the  work  in  Nnevitas  was  suspended. 
In  October,  1905,  Rev.  D.  A.  Wilson  moved 
to  Nnevitas  and  reopened  the  mission,  but 
with  small  attendance,  as  the  novelty  was 
past.  Personal  work  among  the  people  was 
more  than  ever  required.  When  Mr.  Wilson 
left  Nnevitas  for  a  vacation  in  the  United 
States  at  the  end  of  April,  there  were  forty 
in  the  Sunday  School,  and  evening  congre¬ 
gations  had  also  greatly  increased.  There 
were  several  believers,  though  none  yet  had 
been  baptized. 

Rev.  J.  R.  O’Halloran,  an  effective 
preacher,  began  his  work  with  our  Society 
at  Nnevitas  in  May,  1906.  Attendance  in¬ 
creased,  and  on  the  9th  of  November  he 
baptized  seven  candidates  and  organized  the 
Baptist  Church.  Immediately  afterwards  he 
was  transferred  to  San  Luis,  and  was  suc¬ 
ceeded  by  Mr.  IMatias  San  Jose,  a  member 
of  the  Camagitey  church,  Mr.  Wilson,  of 


Camagitey,  making  occasional  visits  for  about 
seven  months,  in  which  time  seven  others 
were  added  by  baptism.  In  June,  1907,  Rev. 
Pablo  Valdes  was  transferred  from  Ciego 
de  Avila  to  Nnevitas,  and  is  still  in  charge. 

This  faithful  and  liberal  band  of  Christians 
deserve  and  greatly  need  a  house  of  wor¬ 
ship.  The  struggle  has  been  long,  often  with 
little  encouragement,  but  the  foundations  are 
laid  and  we  look  for  a  bright  future. 

San  Miguel 

San  IMiguel  is  a  small  village  across  the 
bay  from  Nnevitas.  The  work  was  begun 
there  by  Rev.  J.  J.  Gonzales  in  March,  1904, 
and  has  been  maintained  as  an  outstation  of 
Nnevitas.  In  April,  1906,  Rev.  D,  A.  Wilson 
baptized  the  first  five  believers.  Congrega¬ 
tions  are  good,  but  conversions  few. 

Ciego  de  Avila 

Ciego  de  Avila  is  on  the  main  line  of  the 
Cuba  Company  Railroad,  sixty-three  miles 
west  of  Camaguey,  where  the  old  military 
railroad  crosses  the  Island  from  Jucaro  on 
the  south  to  San  Fernando  on  the  north. 
Along  the  line  of  this  railroad  the  Spaniards 
constructed  the  famous  trocha,  intended  to 
cut  off  the  Revolutionists  in  the  east  from 
passing  to  the  Western  Provinces.  Ciego 
de  Avila  has  something  more  than  5,000  peo¬ 
ple,  and  at  present  is  one  of  the  most  rapidly 
growing  towns  in  eastern  Cuba.  1  he  sur¬ 
rounding  country  is  beginning  to  develop 
rapidly.  Fifteen  miles  to  the  south  is  a 
sugar  mill  installed  tw’O  years  ago,  which  is 
making  about  half  a  million  pounds  of  sugar 
a  day.  Others  have  been  or  are  to  be  erected. 
Nine  miles  north  of  Ciego  is  th"  American 
Colon}'  of  Ceballos,  where  more  than  fen 
thousand  acres  have  been  planted  to  citrous 
fruits. 

In  July,  1903,  Rev.  D.  A.  Wilson,  of  Cama- 
giiey,  began  to  preach  in  Ciego  once  or  twice 
a  month,  in  a  small,  unattractive,  rented 
room.  Subsequently  better  quarters  were  se¬ 
cured,  and  a  very  neat  little  chapel  fitted  up, 
seating  about  one  hundred  people.  The  at¬ 
tendance  was  good.  Rev.  Pablo  S.  Valdes, 
of  Havana,  who  for  several  years  had  been 
preaching  in  western  Cuba,  was  appointed 
b}'  our  Society,  and  in  October,  1903,  settled 
at  Ciego  de  "Avih.  The  24th  of  January. 
1904.  Rev.  D.  A.  Wilson  baptized  the  first  five 
believers.  In  February  Dr.  Morehouse  visited 


T  E  N  YEARS  IN  CUB  A 


49 


Ciego  and  wrote:  “Upon  onr  arrival  here 
we  found  a  warfare  being  waged  between 
the  Carmelite  priests  who  bad  been  bolding  a 
‘mission’  at  the  Catholic  church,  and  the 
leading  Spiritists.  Catholic  leaflets  had  been 
freely  circulated,  the  Spiritists  also  using 
the  press.”  Spiritism  is  strong  in  Ciego. 
The  Roman  Church  has  comparatively  little 
hold  on  the  people.  In  February,  J908,  Rev. 
H.  B.  Someillan,  after  a  week  in  evangelistic 
work  there,  wrote :  "I  have  seen  no  other 
place  in  Cuba  where  there  is  such  complete 
religious  indifference  as  at  Ciego  de  Avila.” 
Mr.  Valdes  remained  in  Ciego  until  June, 
1907,  when  he  was  transferred  to  Xue vitas, 
and  during  this  period  eight  others  were  bap¬ 
tized.  The  congregation  had  to  change 
houses  twice,  and  a  large  part  of  the  time 
had  no  suitable  quarters  for  its  services.  The 
first  of  June,  1907,  Rev.  D.  A.  Wilson  settled 
at  Ciego  de  Avila.  Attendance  at  the  meet¬ 
ings  was  small,  and  the  outlook  anything  but 
encouraging.  Believing  in  the  future  of  the 
town,  and  of  the  church,  he  went  to  work  in 
faith  and  hope.  Progress,  though  slow,  has 
been  real.  The  Sunday  School  reports  an 
average  attendance  of  47,  and  evening  con¬ 
gregations  have  increased.  In  July,  1907,  the 
society  made  an  appropriation  for  a  chapel 
at  Ciego,  hut  no  suitable  lot  was  found  that 
could  be  had  for  a  reasonable  sum.  After 
more  than  a  year  and  a  half  waiting,  a  lot 
has  finally  been  secured,  and  a  beautiful 
brick  church  building  is  nearing  completion. 

Moron 

Moron  is  a  town  of  about  3,000  people,  on 
the  Jucaro  and  San  Francisco  Railroad, 
twenty  miles  north  of  Ciego  de  Avila.  It  is 
a  much  older  and  more  conservative  town 
than  Ciego.  Since  March,  1904,  Brethren 
Wilson  and  Valdes  have  preached  there  with 
more  or  less  regularity.  During  much  of 
this  time  an  unsuitable  meeting-place  has 
been  a  hindrance.  There  are  a  few  believers, 
and  three  have  been  baptized.  With  proper 
attention  we  may  hope  to  have  a  church 
here  before  long. 

Jatibonico 

Jatibonico  is  situated  on  the  Cuba  Com¬ 
pany  Railway,  twenty-seven  miles  west  of 
Ciego,  just  within  the  boundary  line  of  the 
Province  of  Camaguey,  and  is  our  western¬ 
most  mission  station.  Five  years  ago  its  only 
building  was  the  railway  station.  Now  there 


TRANSPORT.\TION  IN  CUB.A 


is  a  thriving  city  of  some  2,500,  and  growin,g 
rapidly.  1  his  development  has  been  due 
mainly  to  the  establishment  of  the  Jatibonico 
sugar  mill,  which  still  furnishes  the  chief  in¬ 
dustry  of  the  town. 

Rev.  D.  A.  Wilson  first  visited  the  place 
in  June,  1905.  At  his  next  visit  in  August  he 
preached  in  an  unfinished  building,  the  peo¬ 
ple  sitting  on  benches  which  the  missionary 
had  improvised  out  of  rough  lumber.  No 
house  could  be  rented.  Upon  Dr.  IMoseley’s 
recommendation  the  society  appropriated 
$500  for  a  chapel,  which  was  dedicated  De¬ 
cember  15,  1905.  Dr.  and  IMrs.  Samuel 
McBride,  of  New"  York,  were  present  at  the 
dedication.  Thereafter  services  w'cre  held 
regularly  tw'ice  a  month,  and  later  once  a 
week,  by  Mr.  Valdes,  the  pastor  at  Ciego, 
with  a  visit  from  ]\Ir.  Wilson  wdienever  prac¬ 
ticable.  In  February,  1907,  the  church  was 
organized  with  only  six  members,  four  heads 
of  families  and  two  young  men.  There  are 
seventeen  members  at  present,  and  the  out- 


.50 


FEN  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


CHURCH  AT  BAYAMO 


look  is  very  hopeful.  Mr.  Matias  San  Jose 
lias  been  resident  pastor  since  June,  1907. 

Guaimaro,  Cascorro,  Sibanicu, 
Marti 

The  towns  of  Guaimaro,  Cascorro  and 
Sibanicu  lie  from  thirty  to  fifty  miles  to  the 
•east  of  the  city  of  Camaguey.  and  from  five 
to  ten  miles  from  the  railroad.  It  was  at 
Guaimaro  that  a  constitution  was  adopted, 
and  the  Cuban  Republic  first  proclaimed, 
April  10,  i86g,  and  the  following  day  the 
national  colors  adopted,  which  is  stdl  the  fiag 
■of  the  country.  These  towns  were  almost 
totally  destroyed  during  the  war,  and  have 
never  recovered  their  former  importance.  In 
March,  1904,  Rev.  D.  A.  Wilson  began  Gospel 
work  in  all  three  places,  simultaneously,  e.x- 
cept  Marti,  and  continued  visiting  them  once 
•or  twice  a  month  until  fall,  when  Mr.  Jose 
Escandell,  who  had  moved  to  d'unas,  took 
charge  of  these  towns  also.  In  April,  T905. 
seventeen  persons  were  baptized  at  Guai¬ 
maro.  Mr.  Escandell  continued  his  work  at 
these  places  until  he  left  Las  Tunas  in  the 
‘fall  of  1905.  But  the  distance  was  long  and 


the  visits  were  not  very  frequent.  After¬ 
ward  the  field  was  worked  in  the  same  way 
by  Rev.  Jose  Gonzalez  Perez,  from  Las 
Tunas,  until  JuR,  1906.  when  Mr.  San  Jose 
was  put  in  charge,  living  at  Cascorro.  After 
his  transfer  to  Nuevitas  in  November,  1906, 
little  was  done  in  the  Cascorro  field  for  about 
sixteen  months. 

In  IMarch,  1908,  Rev.  J.  R.  O'Halloran  was 
appointed  to  Marti,  the  nearest  railroad  sta¬ 
tion  to  Cascorro.  He  preaches  once  a  week 
at  Guaimaro,  Cascorro  and  Marti,  and  has 
a  Sunday  School  at  Cascorro  and  one  at 
Marti.  For  about  four  years  IMr.  Enrique 
Juarez,  a  member  of  the  church  at  Cama- 
giicy  and  a  public  school  teacher,  conducted  a 
little  Sunday  School  at  Cascorro,  where  he 
lived  until  recently, 

Bayamo  District,  1904-1909 

In  the  District  of  Bayamo  missions  have 
l)een  established  at  seven  towns,  and  the 
Gospel  has  been  preached  at  several  other 
villages  and  country  neighborhoods.  There 
are  no  railroads  in  this  section  of  the  coun¬ 
try,  and  all  travel  is  by  horse. 


r  E  i\  YEARS  IN  C  U  B  A 


51 


Bayamo 

Few  places  in  Cuba  are  richer  in  historic 
interest  than  Bayamo.  The  town  was  founded 
in  1513  hy  Don  Diego  Velazciuez,  the  first 
governor  of  Cuba,  and  with  one  or  possibly 
two  exceptions  is  the  oldest  town  on  the 
island.  In  Bayamo  was  horn  Carlos  Manuel 
Cespedes,  who  has  been  called  the  soul  of 
the  Revolution  of  1868.  In  Bayamo  was  writ¬ 
ten  the  Cuban  national  hymn ;  here  its  author, 
the  patriotic  Senor  Figueredo  was  born,  and 
here  on  the  banks  of  the  beautiful  Bayamo 
River,  in  the  outskirts  of  the  town,  he  was 
shot  as  a  traitor  to  Spain.  In  Bayamo  also 
was  horn  Hon.  Thomas  Estrada  Palma,  the 
first  President  of  “Cuba  Libre.’’  The  ances¬ 
tral  home  of  the  Palma  family  is  still  stand¬ 
ing  and  occupied  by  a  sister  of  the  late 
President. 

Bayamo  is  said  to  have  had  at  one  time 
a  population  of  30,000,  but  it  was  almost 
totally  destroyed  in  the  war  of  1868,  and  at 
present  has  only  about  4,000,  but  is  growing, 
and  within  the  past  few  years  has  greatly- 
improved.  With  the  incoming  railroad  it 
will  soon  become  one  of  the  important  cities 
of  eastern  Cuba. 

In  July,  1903,  Rev.  A.  L.  Story,  who  was 
then  living  in  Baranquillo,  Colombia,  S.  A., 
was  appointed  hy  the  Society',  and  reached 
Cuba  in  the  fall.  Mr.  Story  brought  with  him 
an  exceptional  equipment  for  the  work.  He 
arrived  in  Bayamo  December  i.>  1903.  He 
rented  the  building  fronting  the  park,  where 
Cespedes,  the  Cuban  patriot,  was  born,  fitted 
it  up  for  meetings,  and  on  January-  6  held 
the  first  service. 

h'rom  the  first,  congregations  were  large 
and  enthusiastic,  including  many  of  what  is 
termed  the  better  classes.  When,  however,  it 
was  understood  that  the  Gospel  ran  counter 
to  their  customs,  there  was  a  notable  falling 
ofif.  On  June  10  six  were  baptized,  and 
on  May  17,  190.3,  the  church  was  consti¬ 
tuted  with  fourteen  members.  Among  the 
early  converts  at  Bayamo  was  Senor  Jose 
Aguero,  a  lawyer,  who  boldly-  preached 
Christ  to  his  fellow  citizens,  and  while  he 
remained  in  Bayamo  was  of  great  service 
to  the  cause. 

In  June,  1904,  the  Home  Mission  Society 
made  an  appropriation  for  a  church  house  in 
Bayamo.  A  fine  corner  lot  was  secured,  and 
the  beautiful  new  edifice  was  dedicated  on 
tbe  27th  of  August,  190.3.  It  will  comfort¬ 


ably  seat  300,  and  on  the  night  of  the  dedica¬ 
tion  it  was  filled  to  overflowing,  to  listen  to 
the  dedication  sermon  by  Rev.  D.  A.  Wilson, 
of  Camaguey-.  After  the  dedication,  Mr. 
Story  wrote:  “The  talk  of  the  town  for 
months  has  been  tbe  new  Baptist  church,  and 
the  inhabitants  followed  its  erection  with  in¬ 
terest,  for  it  meant  that  the  work  that  had 
been  begun  in  a  small  way-  was  to  become  a 


1 


CIEURCU  AT  BAIRE 

permanent  factor  in  the  progress  of  the 
town.”  A  pastor's  home  has  since  been  built 
adjoining  the  church. 

During  the  first  year  in  Bayamo,  1904,  Mr. 
Story-  had  the  assistance  of  Miss  Effie  Purdy, 
of  the  Women's  Baptist  Home  Mission  So¬ 
ciety.  In  February,  1903,  Mr.  Pedro  Deulo- 
feu  was  transferred  hither  from  San  Luis  as 
assistant  to  Mr.  Story,  and  for  three  years 
did  valiant  service  in  the  towns  of  the 
Bay-amo  district.  After  the  dedication  of  the 
new  house  the  church  at  Bayamo  grew  apace, 
and  the  work  was  extended  to  otlier  points. 
More  than  half  the  time  Mr.  Story  was 
traveling  on  horseback,  preaching  in  the 
towns  and  villages.  In  July,  1907,  he  went 
to  El  Cristo  to  make  preparation  for  the 
o])cning  of  the  schools  in  September,  leaving 
Brother  Dculofeu  in  the  Bayamo  field.  In 
February,  1908,  the  Society-  sent  Rev.  A.  C. 
Ha.geman  to  Bayamo  with  Mr.  Joaqm’n  An- 


52 


TEN  YEARS  IN  C  U  R  A 


tunez  as  assistant,  ]\Ir.  Deulofeu  returning  to 
San  Luis.  Mr.  Hagenian  had  to  devote 
months  to  the  acquisition  of  the  Spanish  lan¬ 
guage,  and  for  this  and  some  other  reasons 
the  interests  of  the  church  declined.  He  was 
able  and  energetic,  but  his  health  becoming 
impaired,  he  returned  to  the  States  early  in 
the  summer  of  1909. 

Baire 

January  25,  1904,  soon  after  arriving  in 
Bayamo,  Mr.  Story  opened  work  in  Baire,  a 
town  of  a  few  thousand  people,  about  thirty 
miles  east  of  Bayamo.  It  was  at  Baire,  on 
the  24th  of  February,  1895,  that  the  Revolu¬ 
tion  was  launched  which  finally  resulted  m 
the  independence  of  Cuba.  The  people  of 
Baire  responded  with  great  readiness  and 
openmindedness  to  the  preaching  of  the  Gos¬ 
pel.  Many  prominent  citizens,  who  have 
never  identified  themselves  with  the  church, 
have,  nevertheless,  always  shown  great 
friendliness  and  have  helped  the  cause  in 
many  ways.  On  March  4  fourteen  believers 
were  baptized,  and  in  about  four  months 
twenty-seven  others  were  added  by  baptism. 
Among  the  early  converts  at  Baire  was  Mr. 
Salvador  Llopiz,  the  Mayor  of  the  town.  At 
the  organization  of  the  church.  April,  1905.  he 
was  made  a  deacon,  an  office  which  he  has 
since  filled  with  credit  to  himself  and  to  the 
satisfaction  of  his  brethren.  Mr.  Llopiz  is 
one  of  the  most  substantial  and  useful  of  all 
our  laymen  in  Cuba.  Miss  Rosario  Tuzzio, 
from  Sanitago,  teacher  in  the  public  school, 
was  for  about  two  years  a  valuable  helper 
in  Sunday  School  work.  Through  the  gen¬ 
erosity  of  West  Virginia  Baptists,  the  church 
at  Baire  has  one  of  the  handsomest  chapels 
in  Cuba.  It  will  seat  about  200,  is  situated 
on  a  corner  of  the  large  public  square,  has 
a  good  organ,  paid  for  by  the  church  mem¬ 
bers  tbemselves.  It  was  dedicated  December 
27,  1905;  dedication  sermon  by  Dr.  Mose¬ 
ley.  Baire  is  one  of  our  best  village  churches, 
is  growing  in  members,  and  is  advancing 
toward  self-support. 

Jiguani 

Twenty  miles  from  Bayamo,  on  the  road 
to  Baire,  is  Jiguani,  a  town  of  two  or  three 
thousand.  Mr.  Story  began  the  work  here 
simultaneously  with  that  in  Baire  in  1904. 
These  two  towns,  only  ten  miles  apart,  com¬ 
posed  so  far  as  one  can  see  of  the  same  kind 
of  people,  present  a  striking  contrast  in  the 


CHURCH  AT  JIGUANI 


spiritual  attitude  of  the  people  toward  our 
workers.  From  the  beginning,  there  was  op¬ 
position  and  much  disorder  in  the  meetings 
at  Jiguani.  Disturbances  still  occur.  Prog¬ 
ress  for  awhile  was  slow.  At  length,  how¬ 
ever,  two  families  of  considerable  prominence 
in  the  community  renounced  Romanism,  and 
others  followed.  At  the  association  of  1908 
the  Jiguani  church  reported  a  membership 
of  twenty-three.  Others  have  been  baptized 
since. 

At  Jiguani,  also,  we  have  one  of  our  hand¬ 
somest  chapels,  the  gift  of  IMr.  M.  C.  Treat, 
of  Pennsylvania.  It  was  dedicated  Decem¬ 
ber  26,  1905.  The  sermon  was  preached  by 
our  departed  brother  F.  Gonzalez  Munoz. 

Cauto 

Six  leagues  west  of  Bayamo,  on  the  banks 
of  the  Cauto,  Cuba's  largest  river,  is  the 
little  town  of  Cauto  Embarcadero.  Mr.  Story 
first  preached  there  in  July,  1904.  The  first 
converts  were  baptized  March  i,  1905,  and 
the  church  was  organized  May  15  with 
fourteen  members.  Mr.  Story  and  Mr.  Deu¬ 
lofeu  visited  the  town  alternately,  always 
meeting  with  much  encouragement.  In 
October,  1907,  a  small  chapel  was  built,  the 


TEX  YEARS  TN  CUBA 


■gift  of  Mr.  M.  C.  Treat.  Mr.  J.  Antunez 
directed  the  work  of  construction,  while  at 
the  same  time  ministering  acceptably  to  the 
congregation.  The  chapel  has  a  nice  organ, 
paid  for  in  part  by  the  congregation.  The 
church  has  made  but  little  progress  recently 
owing  to  the  removal  of  some  of  its  mem¬ 
bers,  and  the  difficulty,  especially  in  the  rainy 
season,  of  maintaining  regular  services. 

Guisa 

Work  in  Guisa  began  in  September,  1904. 
Mr.  Jose  Aguero,  of  the  Bayamo  church,  was 
an  efficient  pioneer.  In  December,  1905,  a 
church  was  organized  with  ten  members. 
Some  have  been  added  since,  but  growth  has 
been  slow.  In  1908  Mr.  Deulofeu  encountered 
much  opposition  from  a  group  of  intolerant 
Romanists.  Guisa,  like  Canto,  has  suffered 
from  lack  of  attention,  as  well  as  from  the 
lack  of  prosperity  in  the  town  itself. 

Santa  Rita 

At  Santa  Rita,  a  small  town  half  way 
between  Bayamo  and  Jiguani,  there  is  an 
interesting  work,  which  was  begun  by  Mr. 
Story  in  September,  1906.  On  the  21st  of 
the  following  December  thirteen  persons 
were  baptized,  and  on  the  26th  of  the  same 
month  Brother  Deulofeu  organized  them  into 
a  church.  Congregations  are  good  and  atten¬ 
tive.  It  is  considered  one  of  the  most 
hopeful  places  in  the  district.  The  church 
numbers  about  thirty.  A  neat  little  chapel 
has  been  built  at  a  cost  of  about  $1,000,  the 
gift  of  a  friend  near  Rochester,  N.  Y.  It 
was  dedicated  by  Brethren  Hageman  and 
Howell,  March  28,  1909.  Miss  Grane  is 
doing  valuable  work  among  the  women  and 
girls  there  as  well  as  at  Bayamo. 

Maffo 

Mr.  Antunez  began  work  in  Maffo,  nine 
miles  cast  of  Baire  and  forty  from  Bayamo, 
early  in  1908.  Mr.  Hageman  and  iMr.  An¬ 
tunez  subsecpicntly  found  a  hospitable  recep¬ 
tion,  and  in  May  of  that  year  the  former 
baptized  seventeen  converts,  including  the 
Mayor  and  bis  wife.  The  organization  of 
the  church  followed,  and  $50  was  pledged 
toward  a  chapel,  which  is  much  needed. 

Las  Tunas  District,  1904-1909 

On  the  main  line  of  the  Cuba  C(')mpany 
Railway,  one  hundred  and  twenty-two  miles 
west  of  Santiago,  and  seventy-five  miles  east 
of  Camagiiey,  is  the  town  of  Victoria  de  las 


Tunas,  the  center  of  another  mission  dis¬ 
trict,  It  was  once  a  rich  and  prosperous 
town.  In  August,  1897,  the  Spanish  garri¬ 
son  at  Las  Tunas,  after  a  two  days’  siege, 
surrendered  to  the  Cuban  revolutionists,  who 
almost  totally  destroyed  the  town  as  was 
their  custom,  lest  it  should  fall  again  into 
the  hands  of  the  enemy.  It  has  never  recov¬ 
ered  from  the  disaster,  and  many  of  its  best 
buildings  are  still  in  ruins,  among  them  the 


COU.RTING  IN  CUBA 


Catholic  church,  a  substantial  brick  building 
on  the  central  plaza. 

On  July  13,  1904,  Rev.  Jose  Escandell 
was  transferred  from  Songo  to  this  field.  He 
rented  a  small  house,  and  entered  upon  his 
work  with  his  accustomed  enthusiasm.  The 
people  seemed  to  be  anxiously  waiting  for 
some  one  to  give  them  the  truth.  Within  less 
than  two  months  after  his  arrival,  nearly  a 
hundred  people  had  signified  their  desire  to 
identify  themselves  with  the  evangelical 
movement.  After  careful  sifting  on  the  6th 
of.  November,  Dr.  IMoseley  baptized  thirty, 
and  others  later.  The  chapel  was  begun  in 
March  and  dedicated  in  September,  Rev.  D. 
A.  Wilson  preaching  the  sermon  to  a 
crowded  house,  Mr.  Howell  and  Mr.  RipoH 
being  present.  It  was  a  great  event  in  the 
history  of  the  place. 


54 


T E  N  YEARS  IN  CUBA 


Two  months  later  Mr.  Escandell  was  trans¬ 
ferred  to  the  new  held  of  La  Maya,  Ti 
Arriba,  etc.,  and  on  November  IS,  1905, 
Rev.  Jose  Gonzalez  Perez  took  his  place  at 
Las  Tunas.  Mr.  Gonzalez  is  well  educated, 
conscientifjus  and  painstaking;  and  from  the 
first  organized  his  missionary  ojicrations  with 
great  care.  He  was  greeted  by  large  and 
interested  congregations  there  -and  in  the 
surrounding  towns.  In  January,  1906,  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Samuel  McBride,  from  New  York, 
accompanied  by  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Moseley, 
visited  the  church,  when  eight  more  were 
baptized.  In  April,  1906,  the  church  enter¬ 
tained  the  second  annual  meeting  of  the  Culia 
Eastern  Association,  reporting  a  memhership 
of  more  than  fifty.  Others  have  since  been 
received.  Interest  is  well  sustained  all  the 
time.  In  1907-1908  the  church  raised  over 
$100  for  all  purposes.  Prospects  arc  ex¬ 
cellent. 

Mir 

Mir  is  one  of  our  country  churches,  the 
meml)er3  living  in  the  vicinity  of  the  railroad 
station  of  the  same  name,  twenty-four  miles 
east  of  Las  Tunas.  Eirst  preaching  was  done 
there  by  Mr.  Escandell,  then  at  Las  Tunas, 
1904-1905,  when  a  number  expressed  a  de¬ 
sire  to  be  baptized.  In  December,  1905.  Mr. 
Gonzalez  Perez  began  to  bold  monthly  meet¬ 
ings  at  Mir  with  an  attendance  usually  of 
from  fifty  to  a  hundred  people.  On  the  28th 
of  the  following  March  Rev.  A.  L.  Story  bap¬ 
tized  tbe  first  twelve  converts,  among  tbem 
some  of  the  substantial  men  of  tbe  neighbor- 
bood.  A  chapel,  began  in  December,  was 
dedicated  February  19,  1907,  Mr.  Treat,  of 
Pennsylvania,  meeting  tbe  expense.  Tbe 
church  was  formally  organized  with  seven¬ 
teen  members,  March  20,  1907.  The  roads 
around  Mir  are  practically  impassable  in 
rainy  weather,  and  meetings  are  often  inter¬ 
rupted.  Otherwise  congregations  are  always 
good. 

The  Tunas  pastors,  E.scandell  and  Gonzalez, 
have  also  preached  at  Caisumu,  Alanantiales, 
Riojo  and  La  Demajagua.  In  some  of  these 
places  there  are  believers,  I)ut  as  yet  no 
churches. 

Guantanamo  District,  1906-1909 

In  the  midst  of  a  broad  and  beautiful 
valley,  rich  in  sugar  estates,  and  watered  by 
one  of  the  finest  streams  in  Cuba,  lies  the 
city  of  Guantanamo,  ten  miles  inland  from 


the  great  Guantanamo  Bay,  where  the  United 
States  Naval  Station  is  located.  The  city  is 
connected  with  the  port  by  the  Brooks  Rail¬ 
road,  and  with  the  main  line  of  the  Cuba 
Company  road  at  San  Luis  by  the  Cuba 
Eastern  Railroad.  Guantanamo  is  a  com¬ 
paratively  new  city,  has  broad,  straigbt 
streets,  electric  lights,  water  works,  and 
other  modern  improvements.  The  popula¬ 
tion  is  about  15,000,  and  according  to  the 
census  of  1908,  has  grown  more  rapidly  in 
the  past  decade  than  any  other  city  in  eastern 
Cuba. 

It  is  one  of  the  oldest,  yet  one  of  the  new¬ 
est  of  our  mission  fields.  During  the  Span- 
ish-American  War,  Mr.  Parker,  chaplain  in 
the  American  Navy,  preached  in  Guanta¬ 
namo,  through  an  interpreter.  A  house  was 
rented,  crowds  attended.  There  was  great 
enthusiasm,  and  many  were  baptized. 

Early  in  1899,  when  Dr.  Moseley  visited 
Guantanamo,  he  found  that  Mr.  Parker  had 
been  shamefully  imposed  upon  by  a  Cuban, 
who  claimed  to  be  a  Baptist  minister,  and 
who  had  brought  our  cause  into  disrepute. 
Air.  Parker  left,  sadly  undeceived,  and  the 
work  went  to  pieces. 

Early  in  1901,  however.  Rev.  A.  B.  Car¬ 
lisle  went  to  Guantanamo  to  start  the  work 
on  new  foundations.  In  November  he  re- 
si, gned  and  returned  to  the  United  States 
with  but  little  accomijlished.  Nothing  further 
was  done  for  three  years.  In  August.  1904, 
Rev.  W.  W.  Hill,  a  colored  brother,  under 
appointment  by  tbe  Society,  came  to  Cuba, 
and  in  November  went  to  Guantanamo.  In 
b'ebruary,  1905,  the  mission  was  opened.  Air. 
Bustamente,  from  Santiago,  doing  the  preach¬ 
ing  until  Air.  Hill  should  accpiire  the  Spanish 
language.  A  Sunday  School  was  begun,  the 
meetings  were  well  attended  and  a  number 
desired  to  be  baptized.  But  in  August  Air. 
Hill  returned  to  the  United  States,  Air. 
Bustamente,  however,  remaining,  being  aided 
awhile  by  Air.  Jose  Gonzalez  Perez. 

A  new  and  brighter  chapter  in  the  history 
of  our  work  then  opened  when  Rev.  A.  B. 
Howell,  after  his  return  from  the  States, 
located  in  Guantanamo  in  December,  1905. 
With  him  and  his  family  came  Aliss  Ruth 
Flaynes,  a  trained  nurse,  and  experienced  in 
city  mission  work  in  New  A'ork  City.  He 
soon  got  a  good  hearing  and  gained  the  con¬ 
fidence  of  the  people.  On  b'ehruary  22(1  a 
church  of  nine  members,  wbo  bad  been  bap- 


T  E  N  Y  A  R  S  T  N  CUBA 


55 


tizecl  elsewhere,  was  organized,  and  eight 
others  were,  received  for  baptism.  In  October, 
1906,  Mr.  Howell  reported  twenty-nine  mem¬ 
bers,  not  including  the  missionaries,  an  av¬ 
erage  attendance  at  service  of  sixty,  and 
a  flourishing  Sunday  School. 

Greatly  to  the  regret  of  the  people,  in  June 
of  this  3'ear  Hiss  Ha^'iies  left  for  the  States, 
preparatory  to  her  work  in  the  school  at  El 
Cristo  in  the  fall.  Soon  after,  however,  the 
mission  was  strongly  reinforced  by  the  com¬ 
ing  of  IMiss  Maggie  Howell,  sister  of  the 
missionary  in  charge  of  the  school,  Miss 


smaller  towns.  In  July,  1904,  Rev.  Thomas 
H.  Sprague  went  from  Camagiiey  to  Gibara. 
In  .Vpril,  1905,  Rev.  Luis  Martinez  Bravo, 
from  Spain,  joined  Mr.  Sprague.  The  work 
opened  encouragingly:  beginnings  were  made 
at  Puerto  Padre  Chaparra  and  other  points. 
At  the  end  of  the  year,  when  Mr.  Sprague 
resigned,  and  Mr.  Bravo  was  called  to  Cama- 
giiey,  the  work  at  Gibara  was  turned  over 
to  the  Friends’  Mission  there.  In  April,  1906, 
the  society  appointed  Rev.  Juan  Belda,  of 
Spain,  to  the  Nipe  field,  but  on  arriving  in 
Cuba  in  July  the  death  of  Rev.  Gonzalez 


BAY  OF  BARACOA 


Bessie  Richards,  an  experienced  kindergarten 
teacher,  and  later  by  Miss  Miller. 

Mr.  Howell  has  baptized  thirty-eight  into 
the  Guantanamo  church.  It  contributes  $50 
a  year  to  the  pastor's  support,  and  $36  to  mis¬ 
sions,  besides  paying  running  expenses.  The 
Society  secured  a  good  site,  and  erected  a 
fine  edifice  thereon,  which  is  much  admired. 
It  was  dedicated  IMay  23,  1909.  The  im¬ 
portance  of  the  place  makes  such  a  house 
indispensable. 

Although  Mr.  Howell  might  devote  his 
whole  time  to  Guantanamo,  the  scarcity  of 
workers,  as  on  other  fields,  requires  him  to 
cultivate  as  best  he  can  the  fields  at  Tigua- 
bos,  San  Pre.  Ensenada,  Jarahueca  and  other 
points,  besides  being  frequently  called  upon 
by  Superintendent  IMoseley  to  attend  to  mat¬ 
ters  connected  with  the  work  elsewhere. 

Nipe  Bay  District,  1904-1909 

1  he  Xipe  Bay  District  includes  the  cities 
of  Gibara  and  Holguin,  and  numerous 


IMuhoz  made  it  necessary  for  him  to  go  to 
Manzanillo.  No  further  effort  for  awhile 
was  made  to  occupy  the  X"ipe  field,  for  lack 
of  workers.  In  May,  1908,  Mr.  Jose  Escan- 
dell  was  transferred  to  this  district,  and 
opened  work  in  a  circle  of  small  towns  ad¬ 
jacent  to  the  Xhpe  branch  of  the  Cuba  Rail¬ 
road.  The  reception  given  to  the  mission¬ 
ary  and  his  message  at  some  points  has  been 
quite  remarkable. 

Barajagua 

At  Barajagua,  where  Mr.  Escandell  lives, 
the  town  has  been  greatly  stirred,  and  many 
have  asked  for  baptism.  March  5,  1909,  Dr. 
Moseley  visited  Barajagua  and  baptized 
twenty-nine  of  the  candidates.  A  church 
was  organized,  and  nine  others  asked  for 
baptism. 

Tacamaro 

At  Tacamaro,  also,  the  outlook  is  encour¬ 
aging.  Many  have  expressed  their  desire  to 


56 


TEN  Y  a  R  S  in  C  U  15  A 


identify  themselves  with  the  evangelical 
movement,  and  the  indications  point  to  a 
vigorous  young  church  in  the  very  near 
future. 

Mejia 

At  Mejia,  also,  much  interest  has  been 
shown.  One  of  the  cheering  features  of  the 
work  in  these  towns  is  the  active  and  en¬ 
thusiastic  cooperation  of  leading  people  in 
carrying  on  the  work.  This  is  especially  true 
at  Barajagua,  where  several  substantial  citi¬ 
zens,  heads  of  families,  have  been  baptized. 
These  new  converts  offer  to  give  the  ground 
and  a  large  part  of  the  material  for  building 
themselves  a  chapel. 

Baracoa  District,  1908-1909 

Baracoa  disputes  the  honor  with  several 
other  points  on  the  north  coast,  of  being  the 
place  where  Columbus  first  landed  October 
28,  1492,  and  while  this  claim  does  not  seem 
to  be  well  founded,  it  is  nevertheless  the 
oldest  town  on  the  island.  It  was  founded 
early  in  1512  by  Captain  Diego  Velazquez, 
wbo  had  been  charged  with  the  conquest  and 
colonization  of  -Cuba,  and  who  called  the 
town  Niicstra  Seftora  de  la  Asuncion  dc 
Baracoa.  It  became  the  first  capital  of  the 
island  and  the  residence  of  Captain  Velaz¬ 
quez.  Shortly  after,  the  King  of  Spain  made 
Baracoa  a  city,  and  the  seat  of  the  ecclesiasti¬ 
cal  government.  It  is  situated  on  the  north 
coast,  very  near  Cape  Maisi,  the  extreme 
eastern  end  of  the  island.  The  census  of 
1899  gave  the  population  at  a  little  below 
5,000. 


Strangely  enougb,  this  oldest  town  in 
Cuba  was  the  last  to  be  invaded  by  the  mis¬ 
sionaries  of  evangelical  Christianity.  So  far 
as  Baptists  are  concerned,  this  is  explained 
in  part  by  its  isolated  position,  it  being  in  a 
measure  cut  off  by  a  range  of  mountains 
from  the  interior  of  the  province;  and  in 
part  also  to  the  lack  of  a  man  who  could  be 
spared  from  the  rest  of  the  field,  which  lay 
more  compact.  For  a  long  time  Superintend¬ 
ent  Moseley  has  contemplated  the  occupa¬ 
tion  of  this  field  as  soon  as  a  man  could  be 
secured.  While  in  the  United  States  in  1908 
he  met  Rev.  Juan  McCarthy,  who  had  had 
several  years’  experience  in  Spanish  work  in 
South  America,  and  interested  him  in  Cuba. 
He  was  appointed  by  the  society  in  Septem¬ 
ber,  reaching  Baracoa  in  December.  Pre¬ 
paratory  to  his  coming.  Rev.  A.  B.  Howell,  of 
Guantanamo,  visited  this  and  adjacent  points, 
and  on  the  12th  of  November  Mr.  Jose  R. 
Escandell  was  sent  to  labor  until  Mr,  Mc¬ 
Carthy  arrived.  Mr.  Escandell  immediately 
rented  a  house  on  a  good  street,  and  at  the 
first  service  preached  to  about  200  persons. 
Mr.  McCarthy,  with  great  zeal  and  energy, 
addressed  himself  to  his  new  task,  being  able 
to  preach  fluently  in  Spanish.  With  a  na¬ 
tive  helper,  he  soon  had  ten  outstations  where 
the  people  heard  him  gladly.  He  also  ar¬ 
ranged  for  a  day  school  in  connection  with 
the  mission  at  Baracoa.  By  the  liberality  of 
a  good  brother  in  the  United  States,  a  lot 
and  a  chapel  have  been  secured.  He  also 
supports  the  missionary.  This  is  quick  and 
energetic  work. 


STATISTICAL  REPORT  FOR  1909-10 

New  churches  organized .  2 

Present  number  of  churches .  44 

Outstations  opened  during  the  year .  20 

Present  number  of  outstations .  68 

Present  number  of  churches  and  stations .  It2 

Baptized  during  the  year . 307 

Dropped,  died  and  excluded .  157 

Present  member.«hip  .  2,218 

New  Sunday-schools  organized .  ii 

Present  number  of  Sunday-schools . 42 

Present  number  of  teachers  and  pupils  in  Sunday-schools  .  1,631 

New  chapels  finished  during  the  year . .,  2 

Present  number  of  chapels .  29 

Pastors’  residences  .  7 

Value  of  church  property,  including  churches,  pastors’  residences  and  lots .  $100,000 

Value  school  buildings  and  equipment .  50,000 

Total  property  valuation .  $150,000 


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